r 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


Photographic 

ScMices 

Corporation 


«' 


;V 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 


4 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notee/Notat  techniques  et  bibiiographiquee 


The  institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I     I   Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagAe 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurte  et/ou  peliiculto 


I      I   Coloured  maps/ 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


Cartes  gAographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  init  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


r~l   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 
D 


D 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
RellA  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr6e  peut  causer  de  i'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  IntArieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 

app  iar  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 

have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 

II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouttes 

lore  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 

mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 

pas  AtA  filmtes. 


|T~>'  Additional  comments:/ 

Uu    Commentaires  supplAmentaires;        /     . 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  At  A  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  d6tails 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  jniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  methods  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqute  ci-dessous. 


I     I  Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag6es 


^ 


I — I   Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


Pages  restaurtes  et/ou  pellicultes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  dAcolortes,  tachettes  ou  piqutes 


J^ 


I     I   Pages  detached/ 


Pages  dAtachtes 

Showthroughy 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Quality  InAgaie  de  i'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materif 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplAmentaire 


[~~|   Showthrough/ 

r~~|   Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I     I   Includes  supplementary  material/ 


D 
D 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Mition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  ref limed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  tt6  filmtes  A  nouveau  de  fapon  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


a 

( 

rhis  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  l^low/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous 

10X                           14.-                           18X                           22X 

26X 

30X 

i 

V 

! 

12X 

16X 

20X 

^24|(                       .   28X                           32X 

ire 
details 
iM  du 
modifiar 

lar  une 
fiimage 


TB 


f  arrata 
d  to 

It 

•  palura. 


D 

32X 


I 


Tha  copy  filmad  hara  haa  baan  raproduead  thanka 
to  tha  ganaroaity  of: 

Library  of  Congrass 
Photoduplication  Sarvica 

Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  boat  quality 
poaaibia  conaidaring  tha  condition  and  lagibiiity 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacificationa. 


Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
aion,  or  tha  bacic  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
firat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
aion,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  impraaaion. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
ahall  contain  tha  aymbol  -^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  aymbol  V  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 

Vlapa,  piataa,  charta,  ate,  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratioa.  Thoaa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  includad  in  ona  axpoaura  ara  filmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  iaft  hand  cornar,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framaa  aa 
raqulrad.  Tha  following  dlagra.na  illuatrata  tha 
mathod: 


1  2  3 


L'axamplaira  film4  fut  raproduit  grica  A  la 
giniroait*  da: 

Library  of  Congraaa 
Photoduplication  Sarvica 

Laa  imagaa  auivantaa  ont  AtA  raproduitaa  avac  ia 
plua  grand  aoin,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattatA  da  l'axamplaira  filmA.  at  an 
conformM  avac  laa  conditiona  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 

Laa  axamplairaa  origlnaux  dont  la  couvartura  Bn 
papiar  aat  ImprimAa  aont  filmia  an  commandant 
par  la  pramlar  plat  at  an  tarminant  aoit  par  la 
darnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'Impraaaion  ou  d'illuatration,  aoit  par  la  aacond 
plat,  aalon  la  caa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplairaa 
origlnaux  aont  filmia  an  commandant  par  ia 
pramiira  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'Impraaaion  ou  d'illuatration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  taila 
amprainta. 

Un  daa  aymbolaa  auh/anta  apparattra  aur  ia 
darniira  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  aalon  ia 
caa:  la  aymbola  -^  aignif la  "A  SUIVRE",  ia 
aymbola  V  aignifia  "FIN". 

Laa  cartaa,  planchaa,  tablaaux,  ate.  pauvant  Atra 
filmAa  A  daa  taux  da  rAduction  diff Aranta. 
Loraqua  la  documant  aat  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  an  un  aaul  cliehA,  11  aat  f limA  A  partir 
da  I'angla  aupArlaur  gaueha,  da  gaucha  A  droita, 
at  da  iMut  an  baa,  an  pranant  la  nombra 
d'imagaa  nAcaaaaira.  Laa  diagrammaa  auivanta 
llluatrant  la  mAthoda. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmKiiMmilfli 


listory,  held  on 

ited  to  Dr  3.  O. 
cleliverad  before 
t  a  copy  be  ro- 


ing  the  same,  be 

•rton,  he  iinme* 
id  placed  bb  ad- 


To  the  Members  of  the 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  History. 

Oentlbmen — On  receiving  the  highly  flattering  invitation 
to  deliver  your  Annual  Address,  it  occurred  to  me  that  nothing 
would  be  so  appropriate  as  a  review  of  the  present  state  of 
Natural  Science  in  this  country :  but  having  almost  simultar 
neously  received  the  Address  of  Mr  Teschemacher  for  the  past 
yMUTi  I  found  it  so  full  and  satisfactory  on  this  question  as  to 
leave  little  or  nothing  for  further  discussion.  I  hav«  there- 
fore been  induced  to  seek  another  field  of  inquiry,  and  in  so 
doing,  have  very  naturally  turned  to  a  subject  which  has  long 
occupied  my  leisure  hours,  land  which,  though  frequently  ex- 
amined, may  yet,  I  trust,  be  recurred  to  with  pleasure  and  in- 
struction. I  propose  to  take  a  rapid  glance  at  what  I  conceive 
to  be  the  peculiar  traits  of  the  Aboriginal  race  of  America,  as 
embraced  in  five  principal  considerations,  viz  :  —  their  organ- 
ic, moral  and  intellectuid  characters,  their  mode  ,of  interment 
and  their  maritime  enterprise ;  and  from  these  I  shall  venture  to 
draw  a  few  definite  conclusions.  I  am  aware  that  it  may  ap- 
pear presumptuous  to  attempt  so  wide  a  range  within  the  brief 
limits  of  the  present  occasion,  especially  as  seme  points  can 
be  touched  only  in  the  most  general  manne:  lut  my  object 
has  been  to  dwell  rather  upon  some  of  these  wh'  :&  have  hith- 
erto received  less  attention  than  they  obviously  deserve,  and 
which  are  intimately  involved  in  the  present  inquiry.  With 
this  explanation  I  submit  to  your  indulgent  consideratidill  the 
contents  of  the  following  memoir. 

S.  G.  MORTON. 


,-iK} 


iT 


.W 


ADDRESS. 


AnTHROPOLOov,  the  Natural  Hittorjr  of  Man,  is  eaMntially 
a  modem  Science.  At  a  time  when  the  itudy  of  Nature  in 
her  other  departments,  had  been  prosecuted  with  equal  zeal 
and  success,  this  alone,  the  most  important  of  them  all,  re- 
mained comparatirely  neglected  and  unknown ;  and  of  the 
various  authors  who  have  attempted  its  exposition  during  the 
past  and  present  centuries,  too  many  have  been  content  with 
closet  theories,  in  which  facts  are  perverted  to  sustain  soae 
baseless  conjecture.  Hence  it  has  been  s|>tly  remarked  (hat 
Asia  is  the  country  of  fables,  Africa  of  monsters,  and  America 
of  systems,  to  those  who  prefer  hypothesis  to  truth. 

The  intellectual  genius  of  antiquity  justly  excites  our  ad- 
miration and  homage ;  but  in  vain  we  search  its  records  for 
the  physical  traits  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  nations  of 
past  time.  It  is  even  yet  gravely  disputed  whether  the  an- 
cient Egyptians  belonged  to  the  Caucasian  race  or  to  the  Ne- 
gro ;  and  was  it  not  for  the  light  which  now  dawns  upon  us 
from  their  monuments  and  their  tombe,  this  question  might 
renudn  forever  undecided.  The  present  age,  however,  is 
marked  by  a  noble  zeal  for  these  inquiries,  which  are  daily 
making  man  more  conversant  with  the  o^anic  strutiture,  the 
UMutal  character  and  the  national  affinities  of  the  various  and 
widely  scattered  tribes  of  the  human  family. 

Among  these  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  America  olaiqi 
our  especial  attention.  This  vast  theatre  has  been  thronged, 
irom  immemorial 'time,  by  numberless  tribes  which  lived  only 
to  destroy  and  be  in  turn  destroyed,  without  leaving  a  trace  of 
their  sojourn  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Ck)ntrasted  with  these 
were  a  few  civilized  communities,  whose  monuments  awaken 
our  muiiiae  without  unfdding  their  history;  «ad  he  who 
would  unravel  their  mysteries  may  be  compared,  in  the  lan- 


,'«3 


4% 


■ff 


m. 


6 


Di$HneHve  Charaeter%$He$  of  t/te 


guage  of  th«  poets,  to  a  man  standing  by  th«  stream  of  time, 
and  striving  to  resoae  from  its  waters  the  wrecked  and  shat* 
tared  fragments  which  float  onward  to  oblifion. 

It  is  not  my  present  intention  even  to  enumerate  the  many 
theories  which  have  been  advanced  in  reference  to  the  origin 
of  the  American  nations ;  although  I  may,  in  the  sequel,  in- 
quire whether  their  genealogy  can  be  traced  to  the  Pblyne- 
sians  or  Mongolians,  Hindoos,  Jews  or  Egyptians.  Nor  shall 
I  attempt  to  analyse  the  views  of  certain  philosophers  who 
imagine  that  they  have  found  not  only  a  variety  of  races,  but 
several  $ptcie8  of  men  among  the  aborigines  of  this  conti- 
nent. It  is  chiefly  my  intention  to  produce  a  few  of  the 
more  strikingly  characteristic  traits  of  these  people  to  sustain 
the  position  that  all  the  American  nations,  excepting  the  Es- 
kimaux,  are  of  one  race,  and  that  this  race  is  peculiar,  and 
distinct  from  all  others. 

1.  Ph^rical  Characteristics.  It  is  an  adage  among  travel- 
lers that  he  who  has  seen  one  tribe  of  Indians,  has  seen  all, 
so  much  do  the  individuals  of  this  race  resemble  each  other, 
notwithstanding  their  immense  geographical  distribution,  and 
those  differences  of  climate  which  embrace  the  extremes  of 
heat  and  cold.  The  half-clad  Fuegian,  shrinking  from  his 
dreary  winter,  has  tlie  same  characteristic  lineaments,  though 
in  an  exaggerated  degree,  as  the  Indians  of  the  tropical  plains ; 
and  these  again  resemble  the  tribes  which  inhabit  the  region 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  those  of  the  great  valley  of  the 
Missis^ppi,  and  those  again  which  skirt  the  Eskimaux  on  the 
North.  All  possess  alike  the  long,  lank,  black  hair,  the  brown 
or  cinnamon  colored  skin,  the  heavy  brow,  the  dull  and 
sleepy  eye,  the  full  and  compressed  lips,  and  the  salient  but 
dilated  nose.  These,  traits,  moreorer  are  equally  common  to 
the  savage  and  cifiUzed  nations ;  whether  they  inhabit  the 
margins  of  riven  and  feed  on  fish,  or  rove  the  forest  «nd  sub- 
sist on  the  spoils  of  the  chkse. 

It  oaimot  be  questioned  that  physical  diversities  do  dccn. . 
eqi  ally  singular  and  inex|dicable,  as  seen  in  different  sha4es 
of  edor,  varying  from  a  fair  tint  to  a  complexion  almost 
blaek ;  and  this  too  under  circumstances  in  ^hich  clinuite 


% 


\e 


Aboriginml  Raea  of  Ammrica. 


stream  of  time, 
icked  and  shat- 
I. 

lerate  the  many 
Re  to  the  origin 
the  aequel,  in- 
to the  Pblyne- 
laiis.    Nor  shall 
lilosophers  who 
ety  of  races,  but 
8  of  this  eonti- 
I  a  few  of  the 
people  to  sustain 
Kcepting  the  Es- 
is  peculiar,  and 

ge  among  traveU 
is,  has  seen  all, 
mble  each  other, 
distribution,  and 
the  extremes  of 
inking  from  his 
leaments,  though 
le  tropical  plains ; 
ihabit  the  region 
'eat  valley  of  the 
Qskimauz  on  the 
c  hair,  the  brown 
w,  the  dull  and 
d  the  salient  but 
ually  common  to 
they  inhabit  the 
10  forest  and  sub- 

rsities  do  dccu.. 

difierent  sha^si' 

nplezion  almost 

1  which  clinwte 


# 


can  have  little  or  no  influence.  So  also  in  reference  to  stat- 
ure, the  differences  are  remarkable  in  entire  tribes  which, 
moreover,  are  geographically  proximate  to  each  other.  These 
facts,  however,  are  mere  exceptions  to  a  general  rule,  and  do 
not  alter  the  peculiar  physiognomy  of  the  Indian,  which  is  as 
undeviatingly  characteristic  us  that  of  the  Negro ;  for  wheth- 
er  we  see  him  in  the  athletic  Oharib  or  the  stunted  Ohayma, 
in  the  dark  Californian  or  the  fair  Borroa,  he  is  an  Indian  still, 
and  cannot  be  mistaken  for  a  being  of  any  other  race. 

The  same  conformity  of  organization  is  not  less  obvious  in 
the  osteological  structure  of  these  people,  as  seen  in  the 
squared  or  rounded  head,  the  flattened  or  vertical  occiput,  tha 
high  cheek  bones,  the  ponderous  maxillae,  the  large  quadran- 
gular orbits,  and  the  low,  receding  forehead.  I  have  had  op- 
portunity to  compere  nearly  four  hundred  crania,  derived  from 
tribes  inhabiting  almost  every  region  of  both  Americas,  and 
have  been  astonished  to  find  how  the  preceding  characters,  in 
greater  or  less  degree,  pervade.them  all. 

This  remark  is  equally  applicable  to  the  ancient  and  mod- 
ern nations  of  our  continent ;  for  the  oldest  skulls  from  the 
Peruvian  cemeteries,  the  tombs  of  Mexico  and  the  moimdaof 
our  own  country,  are  of  the  same  type  as  the  heads  of  the 
most  savage  existing  tribes.  Their  physical  organization 
proves  the  origin  of  one  to  have  been  equally  the  origin  of 
all.  The  various  civilized  nations  an  to  this  day  represented 
by  their  lineal  descendants  who  inhabit  their  ancestral  seats, 
and  differ  in  no  exterior  respect  from  the  wild  and  unoulti- 
vated  Indians ;  at  the  same  time,  in  evidence  of  their  lineage, 
Clavigero  and  other  historians  inform  us,  that  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians  yet  possess  a  latent  mental  superiority  which  has 
not  been  subdued  by  three  centuries  of  despotism.  And 
again,  with  respect  to  the  royal  personages  and  other  privi- 
leged claiiet,  there  is  indubitable  evidence  that  they  were  of 
the  same  native  stock,  and  presented  no  distinctive  attributes 
excepting  those  of  a  social  or  political  character. 

^he  observations  of  Molina  and  Humboldt  are  sometimes 
quoted  in  disproof  of  this  pervading  uniformity  of  physical 
character!.    Molina  says  that  the  difference  between  an  in- 


^JPf^S 


.>v. 


^ 


8 


Duttmtho  Chanuttntita  tfthe 


hainiant  of  Chili  nd  a  Peruvian  is  not  less  than  betwoen  an 
Italian  and  a  Geiman ;  to  which  HnmboUtt  add^  that  th« 
American  race  cetttaiM  nations  whose  featuns  diffiw  as~«HWk- 
tially  from  one  another  as  those  of  the  Circaasiaas,  Hoors  and 
Persians.  But  all  these  peofde  are  of  one  and  the  same  roM^  , 
and  readily  recognized  as  such,  notwithstanding  their  diffeiip ' 
ences  of  haivae  and  complexion ;  and  the  American  nation^ 
present  a  precisely  parallel  case. 

I  was  at  one  time  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  aneieitfi 
Peruvians,  who  inhabited  the  iriands  and  contees  of  dte 
Lake  Titicaca,  presented  a  congenital  form  of  the  head  en- 
tirely different  from  that  which  chauractnrizes  the  g^xat  AdwT- 
ican  race ;  nor  could  I  at  first  bring  myself  to  beliera  that^ 
their  wonderfully  narrow  and  elongated  crania,  resulted  solely 
from  artifimal  c(»nprossion  applieid  to  the  rounded  head  of  Um 
Indian.  That  such,  however,  is  the  fact  has  been  indlqiiitar 
bly  proved  by  the  recent  investigations  of  M.  lyQtbigny^ 
This  distinguished  naturalist  passed  many  months  on  tiie 
table-land  of  the  Andes  which  embraces  the  rogion  of  these 
extraordinary  people,  and  examined  the  desiccated  tenudns  of 
hundtedft  of  individuals  ia  the  tombs  where  Uiey  hams  lain 
for  centuries.  M.  D'Orbigny  remarked  that  while  many  of 
the  heads  were  deformed  in  the  manner  to  which  we  have 
adterted,  otifers  differed  in  nothing  from  the  usual  conforma- 
tion. It  was  also  observed  that  the  flattened  skulls  wore  utti- 
f<»mly  those  of  B&eni  while  those  of  the  women  remained 
unaltered;  and  again,  thirt  the  most  elongated  heac.  .« 
imserved  in  the  largest  aid  finest  tombs,  shewing  that  iiilr 
cranial  deformity  wis  a  mark  of  distinction.  Bfti  to  do  awiy 
with  any  remiitting  doubt  on  thiiiubject,  M.  iyOi!b^y  as-^^i 
certained  that  the  descendants  of  these  ancient  Pemviabs  yet 
inhabit  the  land  of  their  aneestort)  and  bear  ^  i|me  of 
Atniius,  which  may  have  been  thdt  primitiv*  dili|iiiiriett ; 
nni.  lastly,  the  modMn  Aymaras  resemUe  the  tieimti6o.  Q|d- 
chua  or  Peruvian  Indians  in  every  thing  that  rdalea^  phys- 
ical ecmformation,  not  even  exeqiting  the  head,  which,  hqfr- 
ever  they  have  ceased  to  numld  artiflciflly. 

Submitted  to  the  tune  aMtomitel  test,  Am  reputed  giant 


''%■• 


m 


^L^ 

.  0 

^s 

W^^P 

WKI^, 

^|W 

the 

han  b«tw«flin  an 
It  addi,  tlwl  th«^ 
B  diffiw  as4MiMk 
riam,  Moon  md 
the  same  roce^ 
4iiigtli«irdiff«r^ 
Linerican  nation^ 

that  thaaneieni 
conftaaa  of  th« 

of  the  head  anr 
i  the  g^Bt  Aamt" 
r  to  belietra  that 
ia,  resulted  solely 
Ended  head  of  the 
IS  been  indfaqwrtar 
f  If.  D'Otbign^ 
r  months  on  the 
lie  region  of  these 
iooated  temains  of 
re  they  haEva  Iain 
liat  while  many  of 
>  which  we  have 
le  usual  oonfonua> 
id  skulls  wflve  uni- 

women  remained 
igated  head,  ;t 
,  riMwiug  that  (Mr 
.  Bftttodeawiy 
M.  D'OrtJlgny  aa.^ 
iieftt  Peraria&s  yet 
baar  lUk  itona  <tf 
niaf»dH||n*ii»»; 
the  diiiiytii  dp- 
hat  lelataato  phys- 
head,  whieh,  hofr- 

t,  dw  lepiited  giant 


*  Aboriginml  Race  of  Ammea.  9 

and  dwarf  races  of  America  proye  to  be  the  mere  inventions 
of  ignorance  or  imposition.  A  careful  inspection  of  the  re- 
mains of  both,  has  fully  satisfied  me  that  the  asserted  gigantic 
form  of  some  nations  has  been  a  hasty  inference  on  the  part 
of  unpractised  observers :  while  the  so-called  pygmies  of  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  were  mere  children,  who,  for  reasons 
not  wholly  understood,  wero  buried  apart  from  the  adult  peo- 
ple of  their  tribe. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  American  Indian,  from  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  continent  to  the  northern  limit  of  his  range,  is 
the  same  exterior  man.  With  somewhat  variable  stature  and 
complexion,  his  distinctive  features,.though  variously  modified, 
are  never  eflbced ;  and  he  stands  isolated  from  the  rest  of 
mankind,  identified  at  a  glance  in  every  locality,  and  under 
every  variety  of  circumstance ;  and  even  his  desiccated  re- 
mains which  have  withstood  the  doafeoying  hand  of  time, 
preserve  the  jMrimeval  type  of  his  n^ce,  excepting  only  when 
art  has  interposed  to  pervert  it.  ^  , 

'•V 

3.  Moral  Trait*.  These  are  periiaps,  as  strongly  marked 
as  the  physical  characteristics  of  which  me  have  just  spoken ; 
but  they  hiive  been  so  often  the  subject  of  analysis  aa  to  daim 
only  a  pasnng  notice  on  the  present  occasion.  Among  the 
most  prominent  of  this  series  of  mental  operations  is  a  sleep- 
less caution,  an  untiring  vigilance  which  presides  over  every 
action  and  masks  evory  motive.  The  Indian  says  nothing  and 
does  nothing  without  its  influence :  it  enables  him  to  deceivli 
others  without  being  himself  suspected;  it  causes  that  pro- 
verbial taciturfiity  amoi^  strangers  which  changes  to  garruli- 
ty among  the  people  of  his  own  tribe ;  and  it  is  the  basis  of 
that  invincible  firmness  which  teaches  him  to  contend  unre- 
pning^y  with  every  adverse  circumstance,  and  even  with 
death  ift  its  most  hideous  forms. 

The  lo?e  of  war  is  so  general,  so  characteristic,  that  it 
aearcely  calls  for  a  comment  or  an  illustration.  One  nation 
is  ^1  idmost  perpetual  hostility  with  another,  tribe  against 
tnbe,  man  against  man ;  and  with  this  ruling  passion  are  link- 
ed a  mm^Skm  revenge  and  an  unsparing  destruoti  veness.  'the 
2 


-^^' 


10 


DUHnethe  Characteri$tie$  ^  the 


Chickasaws  heno  been  known  to  make  a  stealthy  march  of 
six  hundred  miles  from  their  own  hjunting  grounds,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  de8tro3ring  an  encampment  of  their  enemies. 
The  small  island  of  Nantucket,  which  containi  but  a  few 
square  miles  of  barren  sand,  was  inhabited  at  the  advent  of 
the  European  colonies  by  two  Indian  tribes,  who  Bometime«|» 
engaged  in  hot  and  deadly  feud  with  each  other.  But  what 
is  yet  more  remarkable,  the  miserable  natives  of  Terra  del 
Fuego,  whose  common  privations  have  Unked  them  for  a  time  , 
in  peace  and  fellowship,  become  suddenly  excited  by  the 
same  inherent  ferocity  and  exert  their  puny  efforts  for  mutual 
destruction.  Of  the  destructive  propensity  of  the  Indian, 
which  has  long  become  a  proverb,  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to 
speak ;  but  we  may  advert  to  a  forcible  example  from  the  nar- 
rative of  a  traveller  who  accompanied  a  trading  party  of 
northern  Indians  on  a  long  journey ;  during  which  he  declares 
that  they  killed  every  living  creature  that  came  within  their 
reach ;  nor  ccuid  they  even  pass  a  bird's  nest  without  slaying 
the  young  or  destroying  the  eggs. 

That  ptiiiosophic  traveller.  Dr.  Yon  Martins,  gives  a  graphic 
view  of  the  present  states  of  natural  and  civil  rights  among 
the  American  aborigines.  Their  sub-division,  he  remarks, 
into  an  almost  countless  multitude  of  greater  and  smaller 
groups,  and  their  entire  exclusion  and  excommunication  with 
regard  to  each  other,  strike  the  eye  of  the  observer  like  the 
fragments  of  a  vast  ruin,  to  which  the  history  of  the  other 
nations  of  the  earth  furnishes  no  analogy.  "  This  disruption 
of  all  the  bands  by  which  society  was  anciently  held  t(^eth- 
er,  accompanied  by  a  Babylonish  confusion  of  tongues,  the 
rude  right  of  force,  the  never  ending  tacit  warfare  of  all 
against  all,  springing  from  that  very  diarupture,  —  appear  to 
me  the  most  essential,  and,  as  &r  as  histinry  is  concerned,  the 
most  significant  points  in  the  civil  ctmdition  of  th^  aboriginal 
population  of  America." 

It  may  be  said  that  these  features  of  the  Indian  character 
are  common  to  all  mankind  in  the  savage  state :  this  is  gen- 
erally true ;  but  in  the  American  race  tiiey  exist  in  a  degree 
which  will  fairly  challenge  a  comparison  with  similar  traits 


Ithy  march  of 

rounds,  for  the 

their  enemien. 

mi  but  a  few 

the  advent  of 

ho  sometimes 

|er.    But  what 

of  Teira  del 

lem  for  a  time 

xcited  by  the 

brts  for  mutual 

of  the  Indian, 

unnecessary  to 

0  from  the  nar- 

ading  party  of 

lich  he  declares 

e  within  their 

ivithout  slaying 

gives  a  gmphic 
1  rights  among 
1,  he  remarks, 
er  and  smaller 
aunication  with 
t)server  like  the 
y  of  the  other 
This  disruption 
lly  held  togeth- 
of  tongues,  the 
warfare  of  all 
«,  — appear  to 
concerned,  the 
'  th^  aboriginal 

idian  character 
te :  this  is  gen- 
idst  in  a  degree 
h  similar  traits 


,-''if 


--f 


m 


Aboriginal  Race  of  America. 


11 


in  any  existing  people ;  and  if  we  consider  also  their  habitual 
indolence  and  improvidence,  their  indifference  to  private  prop* 
erty,  and  the  vague  simplicity  of  their  religious  observances,  — 
which,  for  the  mos.,  part,  are  devoid  of  the  specious  aid  of 
idolatry,  —  we  must  admit  them  to  possess  a  peculiar  and 
eccentric  moral  constitution. 

If  we  turn  now  to  the  demi-civilized  nations,  we  find  the 
dawn  of  refinement  coupled  with  those  barbarous  usages 
which  characterize  the  Indian  in  his  savage  state.  We  see 
the  Mexicans,  like  the  later  Rcmians,  encouraging  the  most 
bloody  and  cruel  rites,  and  these  too  in  the  name  of  religion, 
in  order  to  inculcate  hatred  of  their  enemies,  familiarity  with 
danger  and  contempt  of  death  ;'and  the  moral  effiact  of  this 
system  is  manifest  in  their  valorous  though  unsuccessful  re- 
sistance to  their  Spanish  conquerors. 

,  Among  the  Peruvians,  however,  the  case  was  different. 
The  inhabitants  had  been  subjugated  to  the  Incas  by  a  com- 
bined moral  and  physical  influence.  The  Inca  family  were 
looked  upon  as  beings  of  divine  origin.  They  assumed  to  be 
the  messengers  of  heaven,  be^uring  rewards  for  the  good,  and 
punishment  for  the  disobedient,  conjoined  with  the  arts  of 
peace  and  various  social  institutions.  History  bears  ample 
testimony  that  these  spacious  pretences  were  employed  first  to 
captivate  the  fancy  and  then  to  enslave  the  man.  The  famil- 
iar adage  that  "  knowledge  is  power,"  was  as  well  understood 
by  them  as  by  us ;  learning  was  artfully  restricted  to  a  privi- 
"^  leged  class ;  and  the  genius  of  the  few  soon  controled  the  eh- 
^  eigies  of  the  many.  Thus  the  pdiicy  of  the  Incas  inculca- 
ted in  their  sufcijects  an  abject  obedience  which  knew  no 
limit.  They  endeavored  to  eradicate  the  feeling  of  individ- 
uality ;  or  in  other  words  to  unite  the  minds  of  tl|»  plebeian 
multitude  in  a  common  will  which  was  that  of  their  master. 
Thus  wkm  Pizarro  made  his  first  attack  on  the  defenceless 
Peruvians  in  the  presence  of  their  Inca,  the  latter  was  borne 
in  a  throne  on  the  shoulders  of  four  men ;  and  we  are  told  by 
Herrera  that  while  the  Spaniards  spared  the  Sovereign,  they 
dmed  their  deadly  blows  at  his  bearers:  those,  however, 
never  shrunk  from  their  sacred  trust ;  bat  when  one  of  their 


*^^ 


•%. 


^'' 


^ 


Di$iuutive  ChanuitrUHet  of  the 


number  fell,  another  immediately  took  his  place  ;  and  the  his* 
torian  declares  that  if  the  whole  day  had  been  spent  in  kill- 
ing them,  others  would  still  have  came  forward  to  the  passive 
support  of  dieir  master.  In  fact  what  has  been  called  the 
paternal  government  of  the  Incas  was  strictly  such ;  for  their 
subjects  were  children,  who  neither  thought  nor  acted  except 
at  the  dictation  of  another.  Thus  it  was  that  a  peojde  whose 
moral  impulses  are  known  to  ha'&e  differed  in  little  or  nothing 
from  those  of  the  barbarous  tribes,  were  reduced,  partly  by 
persuasion,  partly  by  force,  to  a  state  of  effeminate  vassalage 
not  unlike  that  of  Uie  modem  Hindoos.  Like  the  latter,  too, 
they  made  good  soldiers  in  their  native  wars,  not  from  any 
principle  of  valour,  but  from  the  sentiment  of  passive  obedience 
to  their  mperiora ;  and  hence  when  they  saw  their  monarch 
bound  and  imprisoned  by  the  Spaniards,  their  conventional 
courage  at  once  forsook  them ;  and  we  behold  the  singular 
spectacle  of  an  entire  nation  prostrated  at  a  blow,  like  a 
strong  man  whose  energies  yield  to  a  seemingly  trivial  but 
rankGng  wound. 

After  the  Inca  power  was  destroyed,  however,  the  dormant 
spirit  of  the  people  was  again  aroused  in  all  Uie  moral  vehe- 
mence of  their  race,  and  the  gentle  and  unoffending  Peruvian 
was  transformed  into  the  wily  aud  merciless  savage.  Every 
one  is  familiar  with  the  sequel.  Resistance  was  too  late  to 
be  availing,  and  the  fetters  to  which  they  had  confidingly 
submitted  were  soon  riveted  forever. 

As  we  have  already  observed,  the  Incas  depressed  the 
moral  anergies  of  their  subjeeto  in  order  to  secure  their  own 
power.  This  they  effected  by  inculcating  the  arts  of  peace, 
prohibiting  human  sacrifices,  and  in  a  great  measure  avoiding 
captal  ptfiHdiments ;  and  blood  was  seldom  spilt  excepting  on 
the  subjugation  of  warlike  and  eefradwy  tribes.  In  these 
instances,  however,  the  native  ferocity  of  their  race  broke 
forth  even  in  the  bosom  of  the  Incas;  for  we  are  told  by 
Oarcilaso,  the  descendant  and  apologist  of  the  Peruvian  kings, 
that  some  of  their  wan  were  absolutely  exterminating ;  and 
am<mg  other  examples  he  mentions  thitf  of  the  Inca  Yupan- 
qui  against  the  provinee  of  OtXbo^  in  which  whole  districts 
were  so  completely  depopulated  tliat  they  had  subsequently  to 


af 


;  and  the  hiS' 
spent  in  kill- 
to  the  ptMive 
sen  called  the 
luch;  for  their 
V  acted  except 
i  peojAe  whose 
ttle  or  nothing 
iced,  partly  by 
inate  vassali^ 
the  latter,  too, 
I,  not  from  any 
isive  obedience 
their  monarch 
conventional 
the  singular 
blow,  like  a 
igly  trivial  but 

it,  the  dormant 
lie  moral  vehe- 
iding  Peruvian 
Bivage.  Every 
was  too  late  to 
lad  confidingly 

depressed  the 
icare  thok  own 

arts  of  peace, 
eamre  avoiding 
ilt  excepting  on 
bes.  In  these 
leir  race  broke 
we  are  told  bf 
Peruvian  kings, 
rminating;  and 
helnca  Yupan- 
whole  dis^ets 
subsequently  to 


Aboriginal  RtM  tif  America. 


13 


be  colonized  from  other  parts  of  the  empire  :  and  in  another 
instance  the  same  unsparing  despot  destroyed  twenty  thou- 
sand Oaranquus,  whose  bodies  he  ordered  to  be  thrown  into  an 
adjacent  lake,  which  yet  bears  the  name  of  the  Sea  of  Blood. 
In  like  manner  when  Atahualpa  contested  the  dominion  with 
Ouascar,  he  caused  the  latter,  together  with  thirty  of  his 
brothers,  to  be  put  to  death  in  cold  blood,  that  nothing  might 
impede  his  progress  to  the  throne. 

We  have  thus  endeavored  to  shew  that  the  same  moral 
traits  characterize  all  the  aboriginal  nations  of  this  continent, 
from  the  humanized  Peruvian  to  the  rudest  savage  of  the 
Kmzilian  forest. 

3.  InteUectual  PamlHes.  It  has  often  been  remarked  that 
the  intellectual  faculties  are  distributed  with  surprising  equal- 
ity among  individuals  of  the  same  race  who  have  been  simi- 
larly educated,  and  subjected  to  the  same  moral  and  other 
influences :  yet  even  among  these,  as  in  the  physical  man,  we 
see  the  strong  and  the  weak,  with  numberless  intermediate 
gradations.  This  equality  is  infinitely  more  obvious  in  sav- 
age than  in  civilized  communities,  simply  because  in  the 
former  the  condition  of  life  is  more  equal ;  whence  it  hap- 
pens that  in  contrast  to  a  single  master  mind,  the  plebeian 
multitude  are  content  to  live  and  die  in  their  primitive  igno- 
rance. 

This  truth  is  obvious  at  every  step  of  the  present  investi- 
gatiou ;  for  of  the  uumberless  hordes  which  have  inhabited* 
the  American  continent,  a  fractional  portion  only  has  left  any 
trace  of  refinement.  I  venture  here  to  repeat  my  matured 
conviction  that  as  a  race  they  are  decidedly  inferior  to  the 
Mongolian  stock.  They  are  not  only  averse  to  the  Restraints 
of  education,  but  seem  for  the  most  part  incapable  of  a  con- 
tmued  [Hcocess  of  reasoning  on  abstract  subjects.  Their  minds 
•eiae  with  avidity  on  simile  tniths,  while  they  reject  what- 
ever requires  investigation  or  analysis.  Their  proximity  for 
more  than  two  centuries  to  European  communities,  has 
scarcely  effected  an  apjnreciable  change  in  their  manner  of 
lOTe ;  and  as  to  their  social  cmdition,  they  are  probably  in 


m 


14 


DitHnetive  Charaeteriatks  of  the 


■'w 


most  respects  the  same  as  at  the  primitive  epoch  of  their  ex- 
istence. They  have  made  no  improvement  in  the  construc- 
tion of  their  dMvoUings,  except  when  directed  by  Europeans 
who  have  become  domiciliated  among  them  ;  for  the  Indian 
cabin  or  the  Indian  tent,  from  Terra  del  Fuego  to  the  river 
St.  Lawrence,  is  perhaps  the  humblest  contrivance  ever  de- 
vised by  man  to  screen  himself  from  the  elements.  Nor  is 
their  mechanical  ingenuity  more  conspicuous  in  the  construc- 
tion of  their  boats ;  for  these,  as  wo  shall  endeavor  to  show 
in  the  sequel,  have  rarely  been  improved  beyond  the  first  rude 
conception.  Their  imitative  faculty  is  of  a  very  humble 
grade,  nor  have  they  any  predilection  for  the  arts  or  scion- 
ces.  The  long  annals  of  missionary  labor  and  private  bene- 
faction, present  few  exceptions  to  this  cheerless  picture,  which 
is  sustained  by  the  testimony  of  nearly  all  practical  observers. 
Even  in  those  instances  in  which  the  Indians  have  received 
th6  benefits  of  education,  and  remained  for  years  in  civilized 
society,  they  lose  little  or  none  of  the  innate  love  of  theiir  na- 
tional usages,  which  they  almost  invariably  resume  when  left 
to  choose  forthemselves. 

Such  is  the  intellectual  poverty  of  the  barbarous  tribes ; 
but  contrasted  with  these,  like  an  oasis  in  the  desert,  are  the 
demi-oivilized  nations  of  the  new  world ;  a  people  whose  at- 
tainments in  the  arts  and  sciences  are  a  riddle  in  the  history  of 
the  human  mind.  The  Peruvians  in  the  south,  the  Mexicans 
in  the  north,  and  the  Muyscas  of  Bogota  between  the  two, 
formed  these  contemporary  centres  of  civilization,  each  inde- 
pendent uf  the  other,  and  each  equally  skirted  by  wild  and 
savage  hordes.  The  mind  dwells  with  surprise  and  admim- 
tion  on  their  cyclopean  stractures,  which  often  rival  those  of 
Egy{)|i|pttiagnitude ;  —  on  their  temples,  which  embrace  al- 
maHMttery  principle  m  architecture  except  the  arch  aloite ;  — 
and  dh  their  statues  and  bas-reliefs  which,  notwithstanding 
some  conventional  imperfections,  are  far  «bove  the  rudimcMlgt- 
tary  state  of  the  arts.*  ** 

I        'V  I  — 'f 

'  I  cannot  omit  the  praient  ocouion  to  exprcM  M^  tStaintioii  oF  the  MMilt 
diicoveriet  of  Mr.  Siepheni  aNioiig  the  ruiiMd  citiM  «rf  Ciriltral  Amarica.  Tha 
■pirit,  ability  and  ■uoceat  which  aharactorima  theaa  iDveatigatioiii  are  an  honor 


M'      * 


♦I  * . 


Aboriginal  Race  of  America. 


15 


ch  of  their  ex- 
the  construe- 
by  Europeans 
for  the  Indian 
;o  to  the  river 
ivance  ever  de- 
ments. Nor  if 
in  the  construe- 
deavor  to  show 
nd  the  first  rude 
a  very  humble 
)  arts  or  scien- 
id  private  bene- 
8  picture,  which 
ictical  observers. 
s  have  received 
ears  in  civilized 
love  of  theiir  na- 
esume  when  left 

)arbarou8  tribes; 
B  desert,  are  the 
people  whose  at- 
)  in  the  history  of 
ith,  the  Mexicans 
stweon  the  two, 
lation,  each  inde- 
ed by  wild  and 
rise  and  admira- 
len  rival  those  of 
hich  embrace  ai- 
de arch  alofte ;  — 
notwithstanding 
ve  the  mdim«^ 


miration  oF  the  raeeilt 
Miml  Amarica.  The 
;igati0M  are  an  honor 


I  have  elsewhere  ventured  to  designate  these  demi-civilized 
nations  by  the  collective  name  of  the  ToLTaoAN  Family  ;  for 
although  the  Mexican  annals  date  their  civilization  from  a 
period  long  antecedent  to  tho  appearance  of  the  Toltecas,  yet 
the  latter  seem  to  have  cultivated  the  arts  and  sciences  to  a 
degree  Unknown  to  their  predecessors.  Besides,  tho  various 
nations  which  at  different  times  invaded  and  possessed  them- 
selves of  Mexico,  were  characterized  by  the  same  fundamen- 
tal language  and  the  same  physical  traits,  together  with  a 
strong  analogy  in  their  social  institutions :  and  as  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Incas  in  Peru  was  nearly  simultaneous  with  the 
dispersion  of  the  Toltecas,  in  the  year  1050  of  our  era,  there 
is  reasonable  ground  for  the  conjecture  that  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians  were  branches  of  the  genuine  Toltecan  stock. 
We  have  alluded  to  a  civilization  antecedent  to  the  appearance 
of  the  Incas,  and  which  had  already  passed  away  when  they 
assumed  the  government  of  the*  country.  There  are  tradi- 
tional and  monumental  evidences  of  this  fact  which  can  leave 
no  doubt  on  the  mind,  although  of  its  date  we  can  form  no 
just  conception.  It  may  have  oven  preceded  the  Christian 
era,  nor  do  we  know  of  any  positive  reasons  to  the  contrary. 
Chronology  may  be  called  the  crutch  of  history ;  but  with  all 
its  imperfections  it  would  be  invaluable  here,  where  no  clue 
remains  to  unravel  those  mysterious  records  which  excite  our 
research  but  constantly  elude  our  scrutiny.  We  may  be  per- 
mitted however,  to  repeat  what  is  all-important  to  the  present 
inquiry,  that  these  Ancient  Peruvians  were  the  progenitors  of 
the  existing  Aymarn  tribes  of  Peru,  wliile  these  last  are  iden- 
tified in  every  particular  with  the  people  of  the  great  Inca 
race.  All  the  monuments  which  these  various  nations  have 
left  behind  them,  over  a  space  of  three  thousand  mttcfi  go 
also  to  prove  a  common  origin,  because,  notwithstanding  soime 


to  that  lenttaman  and  to  hia  eoantry ;  and  tliey  will  probably  tend  more  than 
til*  labora  of  anjr  other  pencTn  to  onravul  the  mjrateriei  of  American  Archeol- 
ogy. Similar  in  deaign  to  theae  ire  the  rvaearchea  of  my  diatingoiahed  friend 
the  CheTaHerFreidrichtbaltthoretultaor'wbaBolabon,  though  not  yet  giten 
to  the  world,  tie  lepltls  pill  faoU  of  the  utmoit  importance  to  ijim  praaeot 
inquiry.  ' 


'^' 


^^PF 


16 


DitHncUwe  Chanusteri$tie$  0/  M« 


,5ii. 


i^ 


.if 


'  # 


minor  differanees,  certain  leading  features  pervade  and  eharac- 
terize  them  all. 

Whether  the  hive  of  the  civilized  nations  was,  as  some 
suppose,  in  the  fabled  region  of  Aztlan  in  the  north,  or  wheth- 
er, as  the  learned  Cabrera  has  endeavored  to  shew,  their  na- 
tive seats  were  in  Chiapas  and  Quatimala,  we  may  not  stop 
to  inquire ;  but  to  them,  and  to  them  alone,  we  trace  the 
monolithic  gateways  of  Peni^  the  sculptures  of  Bogota,  the 
ruined  temples  and  pyramids  of  Mexico  and  the  mounds  and 
fortifications  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Such  was  the  Toltecan  Family ;  and  it  will  now  be  in- 
quired how  it  happens  that  so  great  a  disparity  Aould  have 
existed  in  the  intellectual  character  of  the  American  nations, 
if  they  are  all  derived  from  a  common  stock,  or  in  other 
words  belong  to  the  same  race  ?  How  are  we  to  reconcile 
the  civilization  of  the  one  with  the  barbarism  of  the  other  ? 
It  is  this  question  which  has  so  much  puzzled  the  i^iloaophers 
of  the  past  three  centuries,  and  led  them,  in  the  face  of  facts, 
to  insist  on  a  plurality  of  races.  We  grant  the  aseming 
anomaly ;  but  however  much  it  is  opposed  to  general  rule,  it 
is  not  without  ample  analogies  among  the  peo^e  of  the  old 
world.  No  stronger  example  need  be  adduced  than  that 
which  presents  itself  in  the  great  Arabian  family ;  for  the 
Saracens  who  established  their  kingdom  in  Spain,  whose  his- 
tory is  replete  with  romance  and  refinement,  whose  colleges 
were  the  centres  of  genius  and  learning  for  several  centuries, 
and  whose  arts  and  sciences  have  been  blended  with  those  of 
every  subsequent  age  ;  —  these  very  Saracens  belong  not  only 
to  the  same  race  but  to  the  SMne  fkmily  with  the  Bedouins  of 
the  desert ;  those  intractable  barbarians  who  aooiti  all  Re- 
straints which  are  not  imposed  by  their  own  chief,  and  v4loee 
immemorial  laws  fwbid  them  to  sow  com,  to  plant  firuit  traei^. 
or  to  build  houses,  in  order  that  nothing  may  conflict  n^t^ 
those  roving  and  predatory  habits  which  have  continued  OBirit- i^ 
tered  through  a  period  of  three  thousand  years. 

Other  examples  perhaps  not  less  forcible,  might  be  adduced 
in  the  families  of  the  Moi^Uan  race  ;  bui  "iiitiiout  extending 
the  cdHnparison,  or  attempting  to  investigate  this  singular  in- 


•f- , 


,■*  ^r- 


deandeharac- 

WM,  as  lome 
orth,  or  wheth- 
lew,  their  na- 
may  not  itop 
e,  we  trace  the 
of  Bogota,  the 
he  mounds  and 

rill  now  be  in- 
itf  (diould  have 
neriean  nations, 
sk,  or  in  other 
we  to  reconcile 
m  of  the  other  ? 
the  i^iloaophers 
he  face  of  facts, 
Dt  the  seeming 

0  general  rule,  it 
eople  of  the  old 
luced  than  that 
family ;  for  the 
ipain,  whose  his- 
t,  whose  colleges 
leveral  centuries, 
ed  with  those  of 

1  belong  not  only 
t  the  Bedouins  of 
10  aoorli  all  re- 
chief,  and  wlioae 

>  plant  fruit  treea^.  , 

nay  conflict  yriAk 

B  contiaued  txUHh  ^-^ 

rs. 

D^ight  be  adduced 

i^out  extending 

I  this  singular  in- 


Aboriginal  Rac9  of  Amtrioa. 


tellectual  disparity,  we  shall,  for  the  present,  at  least,  content 
ourselves  with  the  facts  as  we  find  them.  It  is  important, 
however,  to  remark,  that  these  civilized  states  do  not  staud 
isolated  from  their  barbarous  neighbors ;  on  the  contrary 
they  merge  gradually  into  each  other,  so  that  some  nations 
are  with  difficulty  classed  with  either  division,  and  rather 
form  an  intermediate  link  between  the  two.  Such  are  the 
Araucanions,  whose  language  and  customs,  and  even  whose 
arts,  prove  their  direct  filiation  with  the  Peruvians,  although 
they  far  surpass  the  latter  in  sagacity  and  courage,  at  the 
same  time  that  their  social  institutions  present  many  features 
of  intractable  barbarism.  So  also  the  Aztec  rulers  of  Mexi- 
co at  the  period  of  the  Spanish  invasion,  exhibit,  with  their 
bloody  sacrifices  and  multiform  idolatry,  a  strong  contrast  to 
the  gentler  spirit  of  the  Tolteoas  who  preceded  them,  and 
whose  arts  and  ingenuity  they  had  usurped.  Still  later  in  this 
intermediate  series  were  the  Natchez  tribes  of  the  Mississippi, 
who  retained  some  traces  of  the  refinement  of  their  Mexican 
progenitors,  mingled  with  many  of  the  rudest  traits  of  savage 
life.  It  is  thus  that  we  can  yet  trace  all  tlie  gradations,  link 
by  link,  which  connect  these  extremes  together,  showing 
that  although  the  civilization  of  these  nations  is  fast  becom> 
ing  obsolete,  although  their  arts  and  scieiices  have  passed  away 
with  a  former  generation,  still  the  people  repaio  iu  all  gther 
respects  michanged,  although  a  variety  of  causes  has  long 
been  urging  them  onward  to  deep  degradatioti  and  n^id  ex- 
tinction. ,v  Strange  as  these  intellectual  revolutions  may  seem, 
we  venture  to  assert  that,  all  cironmstances  bwig  considered, 
thejpare  not  gpreater  than  those  which  hav#  taken  place  be- 
tween the  ancient  and  modem  Greeks.  If  we  had  not  incon- 
testable^vidence  to  prove  the  fact,  who  would  believa  tliat  the 
lotstors  of  the  Greeks  of  the  [vesent  day  were  the  very 
le  who  gave  glory  to  the  Age  of  Pericles  I 
may-^tiU  he  insisted  that  the  religion  and  the  arts  of  the 
American  nations  point  to  Asia  and  Egypt ;  but  it  is  obvious, 
a^  HumbdUlt  an^iipNiers  have  ronuurked,  that  these  resemblan- 
jpes  may  have  ajl|pk  from  similar  wants  and  impulses,  acting 
on  nations  in  many  respects  similarty  circumstanced.  ^'  It 
3 


s  ■/^. 


17 


■^. 


■v.- 


'n- 


Wi 


18 


DUtineHve  Charaeterittiet  of  th§ 


1^ 


■^ 


would  indeed  be  not  only  idogular  but  wonderful  and  unac- 
countable," observes  Dr.  Caldwell,  "  if  tribes  and  nations  of 
men,  possessed'  of  similar  attributes  of  mind  and  body,  re- 
siding in  similar  climates  and  situations,  influenced  by  simi- 
lar states  of  society,  and  obliged  to  support  themselves  by 
similar  means,  in  similar  pursuits,  —  it  would  form  a  problem 
altogether  inexplicable  if  nations  thus  situated  did  not  con- 
tract habits  and  usages,  and,  instinctively  modes  of  life  and 
action,  possessing  towards  each  other  many  striking  resem- 
blances." Here  also  we  may  draw  an  illustration  from  the 
old  world ;  for,  notwithstanding  the  comparative  proximity  of 
the  Hindoos  and  Egyptians,  and  the  evident  analogies  in  their 
architecture,  mythology  and  social  institutions,  there  is  now 
little  reason  to  believe  them  cognate  nations ;  and  the  resem- 
blances to  which  we  have  adverted  have  probably  arisen  from 
mutual  intercourse,  independent  of  lineal  affiliation.  And  so 
with  the  nations  of  America.  The  casual  appearance  of  ship- 
wrecked strangers  would  satisfactorily  explain  any  sameness 
in  the  arts  and  usages  of  the  one  and  (he  other,  as  well  as 
those  words  which  are  often  quoted  in  evidence  of  a  com- 
mon origin  of  language,  but  which  are  so  few  in  number  as 
to  be  readily  accounted  for  on  the  foregoing  principle. 

The  entire  number  of  common  words  is  said  to  be  one 
hundred  and  fow  between  the  American  languages  and  those 
of  Asia  and  Australia ;  fortythree  with  those  of  Europe ;  and 
forty  with  those  of  Africa,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and 
eightyseven  words.  But  taking  into  account  the  mere  coinci- 
dence  by  which  some  of  these  analogies  may  be  reasonably 
explained,  I  would  inquire,  in  the  language  of  an  ingenious 
author,  whether  these  facts  are  sufficient  to  prove  a  connexion 
between  four  hundred  dialects  of  America  and  the  various 
languages  of  the  old  worid  ? 

Even  so  late  as  the  year  1833,  a  Japanese  junk  was  wrecked 
on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  and  several  of  the  crew 
escaped  unhurt  to  the  shore;  and  I  have  myself  seen 
some  porcelain  vessels  which  were  saved  on  that  occasion* 
Such  casualties  may  have  occurred  in  the  early  periods  of 
American  history ;  and  it  requires  no  effort  of  the  impgination 


Aboriginal  Race  of  Atneriea. 


19 


trful  and  unac- 
ind  nations  of 

and  body,  re- 
tnced  by  limi- 

themaelves  by 
form  a  problem 
d  did  not  con- 
des  of  life  and 
■triking  resem- 
ution  from  the 
ve  proximity  of 
lalogiea  in  their 
s,  there  is  now 
and  the  resem- 
ibly  arisen  from 
iation.    And  so 
learance  of  ship- 
i  any  sameness 
ther,  as  veil  as 
ence  of  a  oom- 
w  in  number  as 
principle. 

said  to  be  one 
pages  and  those 
of  Europe ;  and 
one  hundred  and 

the  mere  coinci- 
ly  be  reasonably 

of  an  ingenious 
fovea  connexion 

and  the  yarious 

ank  was  wrec]ced 
raral  of  the  crew 
ive  myself  seen 
on  that  occasion* 
)  early  periods  of 
f  the  imfigination 


to  conceive  the  influence  these  persons  might  have  exerted, 
in  various  respects,  had  they  been  introduced  to  the  ancient 
courts  of  Peru  and  Mexico.  They  might  have  contributed 
something  to  extend  or  at  least  to  modify  the  arts  and  sciences 
of  the  people  among  whom  they  were  thrown,  and  have 
added  a  few  words  to  the  national  language. 

I  am  informed  by  my  friend  Mr.  Townsend,  who  passed 
several  months  among  the  tribes  of  the  Columbia  river,  that 
the  Indians  there  have  already  adopted  from  the  Canadian 
traders  several  French  words,  which  they  use  with  as  much 
ffuedom  as  if  they  belonged  to  their  own  vocabulary. 

It  follows  of  course  from  the  preceding  remarks  that  we 
consider  the  American  race  to  present  the  two  extremes  of 
intellectual  character;  the  one  capable  of  a  certain  degree  of 
civilization  and  refinement,  independent  of  extraneous  aids ; 
the  other  exhibiting  an  abasement  which  puts  all  mental  cul- 
ture at  defiance.  The  one  composed,  as  it  were,  of  a  hand- 
ful of  people  whose  superiority  and  consequent  acquisitions 
have  made  them  the  prey  of  covetous  destroyers;  the  other 
a  vast  multitude  of  savage  tribes  whose  very  barbarism  Js 
working  their  destruction  from  within  and  without.  The 
links  that  connect  them  partake  of  the  fate  of  the  extremes 
themselves;  and  extinction  appears  to  be  the  unhappy,  but 
fast  approaching  doom  of  them  all. 

4.  Maritime  Enterprise.— One  of  the  n^ost  chan^ptoristic 
traits  of  all  civilized  and  many  barbarous  cdilWunities,  is  the 
progress  of  maritime  adventure.  The  Caucasian  nations  of 
every  age  present  a  striking  illustration  of  this  fact :  their 
sails  are  spread  on  every  ocean,  and  the  fabled  voyage  of  the 
Argonauts  is  but  a  type  of  their  achievements  from  remote 
antiquity  to  the  present  time.    Hence  their  undisputed  do- 

^  minion  of  the  sea,  and  their  successful  colonization  of  every 
quarter  of  the  globe.    The  Mongolians  and  Malays,  though 

,  active  and  predatory,  and  proverbially  aquatic  in  their  habits, 
are  deficient  in  that  mechanical  invention  which  depends  on 
a  knowledge  of  mathematical  principles;  while  they  seem 
also  incapable  of  those  mental  combinations  which  are  re- 


■  </,  ■ 


90 


Di$Hnetiv  CharactniMtic*  •/  the 


quisita  to  a  prirfect  acquaintance  with  naval  tactict.  The 
Negro,  whoM  obiervant  and  imitative  powers  enable  him  to 
acquire  with  ease  the  details  of  seamanship,  readily  becomes 
a  mariner,  but  rarely  a  commander ;  and  history  is  silent  on 
the  nautical  prowess  of  his  race.  Far  behind  all  these  is  the 
man  of  America.  Savage  or  civilized,  the  sea  for  him  haa 
had  few  charms,  and  his  navigation  has  been  almost  exclu- 
sively restricted  to  lakes  and  rivers.  A  canoe  excavated  from 
a  single  log,  was  the  principal  vessel  in  use  in  the  new  world 
at  the  period  of  its  discovery.  Even  the  predatory  Charibs, 
who  were  originally  derived  from  the  forests  of  Quayana, 
possessed  no  other  boat  than  this  simple  contrivance,  in  which 
they  seldom  ventured  out  of  sight  of  land ;  and  never  ex- 
cepting in  the  tranquil  periods  of  the  tropical  seas,  when  they 
sailed  from  shore  to  shore,  the  terror  of  the  feebler  natives  of 
the  surrounding  islands.  The  canoes  of  the  Arouacs  of  Cuba 
were  not  more  ingeniously  contrived  than  those  of  the  ruder 
Charibs ;  which  is  the  more  surprising  since  their  island  was 
the  centre  of  a  great  archipelago,  and  their  local  position, 
therefore,  in  all  respects  calculated  to  develope  any  latent 
nautical  propensities.  When  Cortez  approached  in  his  shipa 
the  Mexican  harbor  of  Tobasco,  he  was  astonished  to  find 
even  there,  the  sea-port,  as  it  were,  of  a  mighty  empire,  the 
same  primitive  model  in  the  many  vessels  that  skimmed  the 
sea  before  him.  Let  us  follow  this  conqueror  to  the  imperial 
city  itself,  surromded  by  lakes,  and  possessed  of  warlike 
defences  superior  to  those  of  any  other  American  people.  The 
Spanish  commander,  foreseeing  that  to  possess  the  Idcil  would 
be  to  hold  the  keys  of  the  city,  had  fifteen  brigantines  built 
atTlascala,'  and  these  being  subsequently  taken  to  pieces, 
were  borne  on  men's  shoulders  to  the  lake  of  Mexico,  and 
there  re-constructed  and  launched.  The  war  thus  com- 
menced as  a  naval  contest ;  and  the  Spanish  historians,  while 
they  eulogize  the  valour  of  the  Mexicans,  are  constrained  to 
admit  the  utter  futility  of  their  aquatic  defences :  for  although 
the  subjects  of  Moiltezuma,  knowing  and  anticipating  the 
nature  of  the  attack,  came  forth  from  the  city  in  several 
thousand  boats,  these  were  so  feebly  constructed,  and  man- 


tactict.    The 
jnable  him  to 
ulily  becomes 
y  is  silent  on 
ill  these  is  the 
I  for  him  has 
almost  exclu- 
xcavated  from 
he  new  world 
atury  Charibs, 
of  Quayana, 
ince,  in  which 
ind  never  ex- 
as,  when  they 
t>lor  natives  of 
3uacs  of  Cuba 
B  of  the  ruder 
leir  island  was 
local  position, 
pe  any  latent 
id  in  his  ships 
lished  to  find 
ity  empire,  the 
t  skimmed  the 
to  the  imperial 
)d  of  warlike 
[  people.     The 
:he  Idctt  would 
igantines  built 
iken.to  pieces, 
)f  Mexico,  and 
ar  thus  com- 
storians,  while 
constrained  to 
i:  for  although 
iticipating  the 
:ity  in  several 
ited,  and  man- 


Aboriginal  Hace  of  Atnerica, 


SI 


aged  with  so  littln  dexterity,  that  in  a  fiiw  hours  they  were 
all  destroyed,  disporst'^  or  taken  l<y  the  enemy. 

Turning  from  the  Mcxiians,  wo  naturnlly  look  to  the  Pe- 
ruvians for  some  further  advbnccs  in  nautical  f^kill ;  but 
although  their  country  was  comparatively  a  narrow  strip  of 
land  with  an  extended  frontier  on  t ho  ocean,  wo  find  even 
here  the  same  primitive  vessels  and  the  same  timid  naviga- 
tors. It  is  indeed  questionable  whother  they  ever  designedly 
lost  sight  of  land,  nor  does  it  appear  that  they  made  the  sea 
subservient  to  their  conquests.  These  were  uniformly  pros- 
ecuted by  land,  excepting  perhaps  those  of  the  Incas,  in  their 
efforts  to  subdiA  the  fierce  islanders  of  Titicaca ;  but  even 
the  partial  pen  of  Qarcilaso  limits  all  these  inventions  to  log 
canoes  and  rafts  of  reeds  ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  the  inge- 
nuity of  these  people,  so  abundantly  displayed  on  many  other 
occasions,  had  ever  added  an  improvement  to  the  primeval 
germ  of  navigation. 

Nor  are  those  tribes  which  depend  almost  wholly  on  fish 
for  their  daily  subsistence,  much  better  provided  than  the 
others.  The  Chenouks  and  other  nations  on  the  western 
coast  of  America,  have  boats  hewn  with  comparative  in- 
genuity from  a  single  plank,  and  compared  to  a  butcher's  tray ; 
but  in  these  frail  vessels  they  keep  cautiously  within  sight  of 
land,  and  never  venture  on  the  water  unless  the  weather  is 
favourable  to  their  enterprise.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however, 
that  when  the  Inditms  are  compelled  to  carry  their  boats 
across  portages  from  river  to  river,  they  construct  them  of 
birch  bark,  and  with  a  degree  of  ingenuity  and  adaptation 
much  above  their  usual  resources.  Thus  boats  that  would 
carry  nine  men  do  not  weigh  over  sixty  pounds,  and  are  there- 
fore conveyed  with  ease  to  considerable  distances.  This  is 
almost  the  only  deviation  from  the  log  canoe,  and  is  equally 
characteristic  ;  for  it  is  common  among  the  interior  Indians  of 
both  North  and  South  America,  and  was  noticed  by  De  Salis 
in  the  Mexican  provinces. 

Inferior  in  these  respects  to  the  other  tribes  are  the  Fue- 
gians ;  a  people  whom  perpetual  exposure  and  privation,  and 
the  influence  of  an  inhospitable  climate  have  reduced  to  a 


Jji.     <jj^.;J 


22 


Distinctive  Charaeteri$tica  of  the 


'!l         W^M 


feeble  intelligence,  —  the  moral  childhood  of  their  race.  Not 
even  the  stimulus  of  necessity  has  been  able  tc  excite  that 
ingenuity  which  would  so  amply  provide  for  all  their  wants ; 
and  they  starve  amid  the  abundant  stores  of  the  ocean  becjvue 
they  possess  no  adequate  means  for  obtaining  them.  The 
Falkland  and  Malouine  islands,  in  but  fifty  degrees  of  SogAt 
latitude.  South  Georgia,  New  South  Shetland,  and  w^e 
smaller  islands  in  nearly  the  same  parallel,  were  at  their  Hb- 
covery,  entirely  uninhabited;  nor  is  there  any  evidence  of 
their  ever  having  been  visited  by  any  American  tribe.  Yet 
they  possess  seals  and  other  marine  animals  in  vast  numbers, 
and  in  these  and  all  other  respects  appear  to  be  not  less  pro- 
ductive than  the  region  inhabited  by  the  Eskimaux. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  nautical  enterprise  results  from 
the  necessity  of  the  case,  in  nations  proximate  to,  or  surround- 
ed by  the  sea.  We  have  seen,  however,  that  the  natives  of 
the  islands  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  exceptions  to  the 
rule ;  and  w^  find  another  not  less  remarkable  in  the  archi- 
pelago of  Chiloe,  on  the  coast  of  Chili.  These  islands  ace 
seen  from  the  shore,  and  have  a  large  Indian  population  which 
depends  for  subsistence  on  fish  taken  from  the  surrounding 
ocean ;  yet  even  so  late  as  the  close  of  the  pest  century,  aft« 
more  than  two  hundred  years  of  communication  vnth  the 
Spaniards,  their  boats  appear  not  to  have  been  the  least  im- 
proved from  their  original  model.  The  padre  (Gonzalez  de 
Agueros,  who  resided  many  years  among  these  islanders,  de- 
scribes their  canoes  as  composed  of  five  or  si^  bq^ds  nar- 
rowed at  the  ends  and  lashed  together  with  cordis,  the  seams, 
being  filled  with  moss.  They  have  sails,  but  neither  keel ' 
nor  deck ;  and  in  these  frail  and  primitive  vessels  the  inhabi- 
tants commit  themselves  to  a  tempestuous  sea  in  search  of 
their  daily  food.  The  same  miserable  vessels  are  found  in 
exclusive  use  in  the  yet  more  southern  archipelago  of  Guai- 
tebas,  in  which  a  sparse  population  is  distributed  over  eight 
hundred  islands,  and  depends  solely  on  the  sea  for  subsistence. 
The  mechanical  ingenuity  of  these  people,  therefore,  is  not 
greater  than  that  of  the  other  Indians;  but  from  constant 
practice  with  their  wretched  boats,  they  have  acquired  a  dex- 


# 


m 


AborigituU  Race  of  America. 


'23 


sir  race.  Not 
X'  excite  that 
I  their  wants ; 
ocean  bec^uue 

them.  The 
rees  of  StHgh 
id,  and  s<^e 
«  at  their  lih 
y  evidence  of 
in  tribe.  Yet 
vast  numbers, 
le  not  less  pro* 
laux. 

se  results  from 
o,  or  surround- 

the  natives  of 
eptions  to  the 
3  in  the  archi- 
lese  islands  are 
ipulation  which 
le  surrounding 
t  century,  aftflv 
ation  with  the 
n  the  least  im- 
e  Gonzalez  de 
e  islanders,  de- 
si3^  bQjwrds  nar- 
lordis,  the  seams 
ut  neither  keel 
sels  the  inhabi- 
ea  in  search  of 
lis  are  fonnd  in 
pelngo  of  Guai- 
tuted  over  eight 
L  for  subsistence, 
therefore,  is  not 
t  from  constant 

acquired  a  dex- 


terity in  the  use  of  them  unknown  to  any  other  tribe,  and 
in  some  instances,  under  the  direction  of  the  Spaniards,  have 
become  comparatively  good  sailors. 

De  Azara  mentions  a  curious  fact  in  illustration  of  the  pres- 
ent inquiry.  He  declares  that  wheti  his  countrymen  discov- 
ered the 'Rio  de  la  Plata,  they  found  its  shores  inhabited  by 
two  distinct  Indian  nations,  the  Charraas  on  the  north,  and 
the  Patagonians  on  the  south ;  yet  strange  to  say,  these  rest- 
less people  had  never  communicated  with  each  other  for  war 
or  for  peace,  for  good  or  for  evil,  because  they  had  neither 
boats  or  canoes  in  which  to  cross  the  river. 

The  Indian  is  not  defective  in  courage  even  on  the  water ; 
but  he  lacks  invention  to  construct  better  vessels,  and  tact  to 
manage  them.  When  he  has  been  compelled  to  defend  him- 
self in  his  frail  canoe,  he  has  done  so  with  the  indomitable 
spirit  of  his  race ;  yet  with  all  their  love  of  war  and  strata- 
gem, I  cannot  find  any  account  of  a  naval  combat  in  which 
Europeans  have  borne  no  part. 

The  Payaguas  Indians  at  one  period  took  revenge  on  the 
Spaniards  by  infesting  the  rivers  of  Paraguay,  in  canoes 
which  they  managed  with  much  adroitness ;  and  darting  from 
their  lurking  places,  they  intercepted  the  trading  vessels  goiiig 
to  and  from  Buenos  Ayres,  robbing  them  of  their  goods,  uaA 
destroying  their  crews  rrithout  mercy.  Such  was  their  tnc^ 
cess  in  these  ifVer  pinu  ies  that  it  required  years  of  war  and 
stratagem  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards  to  subdue  them. 

The  cMy  example  of  a  naval  contest  that  I  have  met  with, 
is  descritM  by  Dobrizho.Ter,  to  have  taken  place  between  the 
so-called  Mamalukes  of  St.  Taulo,  in  Brazil,  and  their  enemies 
the  Guaranies.  The  former  were  a  banditti  derived  from  the 
intermarriage  of  the  dregs  of  Europeans  of  all  nations  with 
the  surrounding  Indians ;  and  assisted  by  two  thousand  of 
their  native  allies,  they  came  forth  to  battle  in  three  hundred 
boats.  The  Guaranies,  on  th«  other  hand,  had  five  ships 
armed  with  cannon.  But  it  is  obvious  from  this  statement, 
that  European  vessels  and  European  tactics  gave  the  battle  all 
its  importance.  It  took  place  on  the  river  Mborore,  in  Para- 
guay ;  but  after  all.  both  parties  finding  themselves  out  of 


M 


it 


* 


24 


Diatinetive  Characteristica  of  the 


their  element  on  the  water,  at  length  abandoned  their  vessels 
by  mutual  agreement,  and  fought  to  desperation  on  shore. 

It  is  said  of  the  inhabitants  of  New  Holland,  that  their  only 
substitute  fora  boat  is  a  short  and  solid  log,  on  which  they 
place  themselves  astride,  and  thus  venture  upon  the  water. 
Even  this,  the  humblest  of  all  human  contrivances,  was  in 
use  among  the  Indians  of  the  Bay  of  Hondnras,  who  had 
learned  to  balance  themselves  so  dexterously  standing  upon  a 
log,  as  to  be  able  in  this  position  to  pursue  their  customary 
occupation  of  fishing  in  the  adjacent  sea. 

In  fine,  his  long  contact  with  European  arts,  has  furnished 
the  Inuiau  with  no  additional  means  of  contending  with  the 
watery  element ;  and  his  log  canoe  and  boat  of  birch  bark, 
are  precisely  the  same  as  at  the  landing  of  Oolumbus. 

5.  Manner  of  IntermeiU.  Veneration  for  the  dead  is  a 
sentiment  natural  to  man,  whether  civilized  or  savage :  but 
the  manner  o^  expressing  it,  and  of  performing  the  rites  of 
sepulture,  differ  widely  in  different  nations.  No  offence  excites 
greater  exasperation  in  the  breast  of  the  Indian  than  the  vio> 
lation  of  the  graves  of  his  people ;  and  he  has  even  been 
known  to  disinter  the  bones  of  his  ancestors,  and  bear  them 
with  him  to  a  great  distance,  when  circumstances  have  com- 
pelled him  to  make  a  permanent  change  of  residence. 

But  the  manner  of  inhtunation  is  so  different  from  that 
practised  by  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
prevalent  among  the  American  natives,  as  to  constitiyp  another 
means  of  identifying  them  as  parts  of  a  siugle  ail4  peculiar 
race.  This  practice  consists  in  burying  the  dead  in  the  Jif- 
ting  posture;  the  legs  being  flexed  against  the  abdomen,  the 
arms  also  bent,  and  the  chin  supported  on  the  palms  of  the 
hands.  The  natives  of  Patagonia,  Brazil  and  GuayoM ;  the 
insular  and  other  Gharibs,  the  Florida  tribes,  the  great  chain 
of  Lenape  nations,  the  inhabitants  of  both  sides  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  and  those  also  of  Canada  and  the  vast  Northwest- 
ern region,  all  conform,  with  occasional  exceptions,  to  this 
conventional  rite.  So  also  with  the  demi-civilized  commu- 
nities from  the  most  distant  epochs ;  for  the  ancient  Peruvi- 


k 


• 


Aboriginal  Race  of  America. 


26 


,eir  vessels 
shore. 
;  their  only 
hich  they 
the  water. 
M,  was  in 
I,  who  had 
ing  upon  a 
customary 

!  furnished 
ig  with  the 
birch  bark, 
bus. 

le  dead  is  a 
lavage :  but 
the  rites  of 
ence  excites 
an  the  vio- 
I  even  been 
1  bear  them 
{have  com- 
Dce. 

t  from  that 
ame  time  so 
tatfi  another 
irtf  peculiar 

d  in  tb»9it' 
bdonien,  the 

lalms  of  the 
uaynna ;  the 
I  great  chain 
,f  the  Rocky 
t  Northwest- 
ions,  to  this 
ized  commu- 
ient  Peruvi- 


ans, to  whom  we  have  already  so  frequently  referred,  pos- 
sessed this  singular  usage,  as  is  verified  by  their  numberless 
remains  in  the  sepulchres  of  Titicaca.  They  did  not,  how- 
ever, bury  their  dead,  but  placed  them  on  the  floors  of  their 
tombs,  seated,  and  sowed  up  in  sacks.  The  later  Peruvians 
of  the  Inca  race  followed  the  same  custom,  sometimes  inhu- 
ming the  body,  at  others  placing  it  in  a  tower  above  ground. 
Garcilaso  de  la  Yega  informs  us,  that  in  the  year  1560  he  saw 
five  embalmed  bodies  of  the  royal  family,  all  of  whom  were 
seated  in  the  Indian  manner,  with  their  hands  crossed  upon 
the  breast,  and  their  heads  bent  forward.  So  also  the  Mexi- 
cans from  the  most  ancient  time  had  adopted  the  same  usage, 
which  was  equally  the  privilege  of  the  king  and  his  people. 
The  most  remarkable  exception  to  the  practice  in  question,  is 
that  in  which  the  body  is  dissected  before  interment,  the 
bones  alone  being  deposited  in  the  eartfi.  This  extraordinary 
rite  has  prevailed  among  various  tribes  firom  the  southern  to  the 
northern  extremity  of  their  range,  in  Pfttagonia,  Brazil,  Flor- 
ida and  Blissouri,  and  indeed  in  many  intervening  localities ; 
but  even  in  these  instances  the  bones  are  often  retained  in 
their  relative  position  by  (nreserving  the  ligaments,  and  then 
interred  in  the  attitude  of  a  person  seated.  An  example 
among  very  many  others  is  recorded  by  the  Baron  Humboldt, 
in  his  visit  to  a  cavern-cemetery  of  the  Atures  Indians,  at  the 
sources  of  the  Orinoco ;  wherein  he  found  hundreds  of  skele- 
tons jweserved  each  in  a  separate  basket,  the  bones  being  held 
together  by  their  natural  connexions,  and  the  whole  disposed 
in  the  conventional  posture  of  which  we  are  speaking.  ^ 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  practice  has  been  noticed  by 
some  navigators  among  the  Polynesian  islands ;  the  instances, 
howeveir,  appear  so  few  as  rather  to  form  exceptions  to  the 
rule,  like  those  of  the  Nassamones  of  northern  Africa :  but  I 
have  sought  for  it  in  vain  among  the  continental  Asiatics,  who, 
if  they  ever  possessed  it,  would  liave  yet  preserved  it  among 
some  at  least  of  their  numberless  tribes. 

After  this  rapid  view  of  the  principal  leading  characteris- 
tics of  the  American  race,  let  us  now  briefly  inquire  whether 
they  denote  an  exotic  origin  ;  or  whether  there  is  not  internal 
4 


M 


26 


Distinctive  Charaeteri$tic$  of  the 


evidence  that  this  race  is  as  strictly  aboriginal  to  America  as 
the  Mongolian  is  to  Asia,  or  the  Negro  to  Africa. 

And  first,  we  turn  to  the  Mongolian  race,  which,  by  a 
somewhat  general  consent  is  admitted  to  include  the  Polar 
nations,  and  among  them  the  Eskimaux  of  our  continent.  It 
is  a  very  prevalent  opinion  that  the  latter  people,  who  obvi- 
ously belong  to  the  Polar  family  of  Asia,  pass  insensibly  into 
the  American  race,  and  thus  form  the  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  two.  But  without  repeating  what  has  already  been 
said  in  reference  to  the  Indian,  we  may  briefly  advert,  for  the 
purpose  of  comparison,  to  the  widely  different  characteristics 
of  the  Eskimaux.  These  people  are  remarkable  for  a  lai^e 
and  rather  elongated  head,  which  is  low  in  ftout  and  project- 
ing behind ;  the  great  width  and  flatness  of  the  face  is  noted 
by  all  travellers :  their  eyes  are  small  and  black,  the  mouth 
small  and  round,  and  the  nose  is  so  diminutive  and  de)tressed, 
that  on  looking  at  a  skull  in  profile  the  nasal  bones  are  hardly 
seen.  Their  comfdexion,  moreover,  is  comparatively  fair,  aiid 
there  is  a  tendency  throughout  life  to  fulness  and  obesity. 
The  traveller  Heame,  while  in  company  with  a  tribe  of  north- 
era  Indians,  mentions  a  circumstance  which  is  at  least  curious, 
because  it  shows  the  light  in  which  the  Eskimaux  are  regard- 
ed by  their  proximate  neighbors  on  the  south.  He  was  the 
unwilling  witness  of  a  {ffemeditated  and  unp'x>voked  masn- 
cre  of  an  entire  encamiNuent  of  Eskinunix,  men,  women,  and 
children ;  and  it  is  curious  to  remark  that  the  aggressors  apolo- 
gised for  their  cruelty  not  only  on  the  ]dea  of  ancient  ftud, 
but  by  asserting  that  their  unoffending  victims  wdre  a  people 
of  different  nature  and  origin  from  themselves,  even  in  leapeet 
to  sexual  conformation. 

The  moral  character  of  the  Eskimaux  differs  firom  that  of  the 
Indian  chiefly  in  the  absence  of  the  courage,  cunning,  cru- 
elty and  improvidence  so  habitual  in  the  red  num,  who,  in  tura, 
is  inferior  in  mechanical  ingenuity,  and  above  all  in  aquatic 
exercises.  The  Eskimau,  notwithstanding  the  intense  cold 
of  hiscUmate,  has  been  called  an  amfdiibious  animal,  so  read- 
ily and  equally  does  he  adapt  himself  to  the  land  or  water. 
His  boat  is  an  evidence  of  mechanical  skil),  and  the  adroit 


** 


w- 


■«: 


America  as 

^hich,  by  a 
B  the  Polar 
ntinent.    It 
who  obvi- 
lensibly  into 
ng  link  be- 
alieadybeen 
vert,  for  the 
iiaracteristics 
le  for  a  large 
andproject- 
^ace  is  noted 
t,  the  mouth 
3d  deicessed, 
es  are  hardly 
Lvelyfair,ai>d 
and  obesity, 
tribe  of  north- 
t  least  curious, 
iz  are  regard- 
He  was  the 
looked  massa- 
,  women,  and 
pressors  apolo- 
ancient  ftud, 
w«re  a  people 
)ven  in  respect 

rom  that  of  the 
cunning,  cru- 
1,  who,  in  turn, 
all  in  aquatic 
B  intense  cold 
inimal,  so  read- 
land  or  water, 
and  the  adroit 


Aboriginal  Race  of  America. 


27 


manner  in  which  he  manages  it  is  a  [voverb  among  mariners. 
The  women  are  not  less  expert  and  enterprising  than  the 
men :  each  possesses  a  boat  of  peculiar  and  distinctive  con- 
struction ;  and  Crantz  informs  us  that  children  of  the  tender 
age  of  seven  or  eight  years  commence  the  unassisted  man- 
agement of  their  little  vessels. 

How  strongly  do  these  and  other  traits  which  might  be 
enumerated,  contrast  with  those  of  the  Indian,  and  enforce  an 
ethnographic  dissimilarity  which  is  confirmed  at  every  step 
of  the  investigation ! 

Some  writers,  however,  think  they  detect  in  the  Fuegian 
a  being  whose  similar  physical  condition  has  produced  in  him 
all  the  characteristics  of  the  Eskimau ;  but  we  confidently 
assert  that  the  latter  is  vastly  superior  both  in  his  exterior 
organization  and  mental  aptitude.  In  truth  the  two  may  be 
readily  contrasted  but  not  easily,  compared.  The  Fuegian 
bears  a  coarse  but  striking  rasemblance  to  the  race  to  which 
he  belongs,  and  every  feature  of  his  character  assists  in  fixing 
his  identity.  The  extremes  of  cold,  with  their  many  attend- 
ing privations,  by  brutifying  the  features  and  distorting  the 
expression  of  the  face,  reduce  man  to  a  mere  caricature,  a 
repulsive  perversion  of  his  original  type.  Compare  the  Mon- 
gols of  Central  Asia  and  China,  with  the  Polar  nations  of 
Siberia.  Compare  also  the  Hottentot  with  the  contiguous 
black  tribes  on  the  north ;  the  Tasmanian  negro  with  the 
proper  New  Hollanders,'  and  lastly,  the  wretched  Fuegian 
with  the  Indian  beyond  the  Magellanic  strait ;  and  we  find  in 
every  instance  how  much  more  the  man  of  a  cold  and  inhos- 
pitable clime  is  degraded,  physically  and  intellectually,  tiian 
his  more  fortunate  but  affiliated  neighbor.  The  operation  of 
these  perverting  causes  through  successive  ages  of  time,  has 
obscured  but  not  obliteraied  those  lineaments  which,  however 
modified,  point  to  an  aboriginal  stock. 

Without  attempting  to  enter  the  fathomless  depths  of  phi- 
jology,  I  am  bound  to  advert  to  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Gallatin, 
that  all  the  nations  firom  Cape  Horn  to  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
have  languages  which  possess  "  a  distinct  character  common 
to  all,  and  apparently  differing  from  those  of  the  other  conti- 


•Ki 


Diatinctive  Characteriatiea  of  the 


^ 


w?^. 


nent  with  which  we  are  acquainted ;"  an  analogy,  moreover, 
which  is  not  of  an  indefinite  kind,  but  consists  for  the  most 
port  in  peculiar  conjugational  modes  of  modifying  the  verbs,  by 
the  insertion  of  syllables.  It  has  been  insisted  by  some  writers 
that  this  analogy  proves  the  cognate  relation  of  the  Eskimaux 
and  Indians.  This,  however,  is  a  mere  postulate ;  for  from 
the  evidence  already  adduced  in  respect  to  the  ethnographic 
difference  between  these  people,  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that 
the  resemblance  in  their  respective  languages  has  not  been 
derived  by  the  greater  from  the  lesser  source, — not  by  the 
Americans  from  the  Eskimaux,  but  the  reverse  :  for  the  Asiat- 
ics having  arrived  at  various  and  distant  periods,  and  in  small 
parties,  would  naturally,  if  not  unavoidably,  adopt  more  or  less 
of  the  language  of  the  people  among  whom  they  settled,  until 
their  own  dialects  finally  merged  in  those  of  the  Ghepewyan 
and  other  Indians  who  bound  them  on  the  south. 

The  Eskimaux,  it  may  be  remarked,  at  the  present  time 
extend  much  further  south,  and  are  much  more  numerous  on 
the  western  than  on  the  eastern  coast  of  America,  being  found 
as  low  down  as  Mount  St.  Elias ;  south  of  which,  contrary  to 
what  is  observed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  continent,  they 
become  more  or  less  blended  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  have 
imparted  to  the  latter  some  portion  of  their  mechanical  inge- 
nuity. This  difference  in  the  extent  and  influence  of  the 
western  and  eastern  Eskimaux,  is  explained  by  the  proximity 
6{  the  former  to  Asia ;  and  a  redundant  population  has  even 
forced  some  of  them  back  to  the  parent  hive,  whither  they 
have  carried  atlialect  derived  from  the  cognate  tribes  of  Amer- 
ica. Such  are  the  Tsutchchi,  who  thus  form  a  link  between 
the  Polar  nations  of  the  two  continents. 

It  is  a  common  opinion,  also,  that  America  has  been  peo- 
pled by  the  proper  Mongols  of  central  and  eastern  Asia ;  and 
volnmes  have  been  written  on  supposed  affinities,  i^ysical, 
moral  and  intellectual,  to  sustain  this  hypothesis.  We  have 
already  glanced  at  the  Mongolian  featu*^  »*.  as  seen,  though 
rudely  and  extravagantly  developed,  in  iu.>  Polar  nations ;  but 
there  are  some  characters  so  prevalent  as  to  pervade  all  the 
ramifications  of  the  great  Mongolian  stock,  from  the  repulsive 


*•.•» 


r-,^w"''lli^/^i^i  I II  lift-  'V  yi^gffl^fft^  -^ 


Aboriginal  Race  of  Amerira. 


29 


y,  moreover, 
or  the  most 
the  verbs,  by 
some  writers 
le  Eskimaux 
ite ;  for  from 
ethnographic 

to  infer  that 
has  not  been 
-not  by  the 
for  the  Asiat- 

and  in  small 
It  more  or  less 

settled,  until 
J  Chepewyan 

1. 

present  time 
numerous  on 
I,  being  found 
;h,  contrary  to 
ntinent,  they 
bes,  and  have 
hanical  inge- 
luence  of  the 
the  proximity 
ion  has  even 

whither  they 
ibdsof  Amer- 

link  between 

has  been  peo- 

}m  Asia ;  and 

ies,  physical, 

lis.    We  have 

seen,  though . 

naticos;  but 
rvade  all  the 

the  repulsive 


Calmuck  to  the  polished  and  more  delicately  featured  Chi- 
nese. These  are  the  small,  depressed,  and  seemingly  broken 
nose  ;  the  oblin'^'j  position  of  the  eye,  which  is  drawn  up  at 
the  external  angle ;  the  great  width  between  the  cheek  bones, 
which  are  not  only  high  but  expanded  laterally ;  the  arched 
and  linear  eyebrow;  and  lastly,  the  complexion,  which  is 
invariably  some  shade  of  yellow  or  olive,  and  almost  equally 
distant  from  the  fair  tint  of  the  European  and  the  red  hue  of 
the  Indian.  Without  attempting  a  detailed  comparison,  we 
may  briefly  observe  that  the  Mongolian,  in  his  various  local- 
ities, is  distinguished  for  his  imitative  powers  and  mechanical 
ingenuity,  and  above  all  for  his  nautical  skill,  in  which,  as  we 
have  suggested,  he  holds  a  place  next  to  the  nations  of  the 
Caucasian  race.  In  fine,  we  are  constrained  to  believe  that 
there  is  no  more  resemblance  between  the  Indian  and  the  Mon- 
gol in  respect  to  arts,  architecture,  mental  features  and  social 
usages,  than  exists  between  any  other  two  distinct  races  of 
mankind.  Mr.  Ranking  has  written  an  elaboratt)  treatise  to 
prove  that  the  Mongols,  led  by  a  descendant  oi  Genghis 
Khan,  conquered  Peru  and  Mexico  in  the  thirteenth  century ; 
but  in  the  whole  range  of  English  literature  there  cannot  be 
found  a  work  more  replete  with  distorted  facts  and  illogical 
reasoning.  The  author  begins  by  the  singular  assertion  that 
"  when  Cuzco  was  founded  by  Manco  Capac,  none  of  the  civ- 
ilization introduced  by  the  Peruvians  and  Mexicans  was  in 
existence  ;"  thus  overlooking  the  cultivated  tribes  who  pre- 
ceded the  Inca  family,  and  disregarding  also  the  various  demi- 
civilized  nations  which  successively  followed  each  other  in 
Mexico,  before  that  country  fell  under  the  rule  of  the  Aztecs. 
Mr.  Ranking  introduces  the  Mongols  in  large  ships,  with  all 
the  appliances  of  war,  not  even  excepting  elephants ;  and  in 
order  that  the  Tartar  general  may  correspond  to  Mancg  C»* 
pac,  he  is  made  to  enter  Peru  by  the  Lake  Titicaca,  upwards 
of  an  hundred  miles  from  the  sea.  Such  statements  may 
seem  too  absurd  for  sober  discussion ;  but  they  are  not  more 
80  than  various  other  subterfuges  which  have  been  resorted  to 
in  explanation  of  the  precise  manner  in  which  the  new  world 
has  been  peopled  from  the  old. 


%■)(■% 


lit 


It' 


^:J% 


80 


Di»HneH99  OhaneUriatin  pf  Hkt 


,  «•  ^• 


-t"  '^i 


^, 


i% 


But  theie  is  not  a  diadow  of  «Tideiioe  that  thiT  Mongols 
«y«r  reached  Aipiefiea  in  ships  excepting  by  men  accident ; 
and  dierefq^  their  number  mnst  haft  alwwfs  been  too  small, 
and  too  baffly  pcoTided,  to  have  dreamt  of  conquest  in  a  eoim« 
try  which  has  had  a  popuUtion  of  milHo^  fiom  immemorial 
time. 

There  is  a  third  view  of  this  question  whiehiMMins  to  H 
noticed;  for,  allowiag  that  the  Eskimaux  and  the  oognlil) 
F^tar  nations  are  m  the  piogenitors c€  the  Ameriean  race; 
and  admitting  also*^at  the  Mongols  of  central  Jksia  could 
nevcy  have  arrived  in  any  requisite  onni|||r  byadirect  voyage 
from  one  continent  to  the  other,  yet  it  ilfiilpoied  by  many 
loaniid  «ie|  that  these  Mongols  could  haltt  )nached  America 
by  slow  jd|fueys  from  their  own  distanf  dootttry :  and  that 
theiv  hierogiyidiic  charts  delineate  many  of  the  incidents  of 
th%  joijmey :  but  there  is  no  positive  evidence  in  regard  to 
diction  and  localities,  although  these,  by  a  very  general 
oonsent,  an  plaoed  in  the  north  and  northwest.  Cabrera,  co 
tlto  eol^^MUy,  aftor  the  niost  patient  research,  aided  by  ipusint ; 
AfCilities  fi^iytirestigi^idB,  trsoes  the  primal  seat  ^  the  o|hril> 
iaed  naM|plla>«rica  to  jpttthem  Mexico,  wheie  ^  tdl^ 
•olj^ofO^,  tJxmal  and  Pklenqne,  point  to  an  epoch  seiip 
hn^  «rt|p|»  more  remote  than  aaf  antiquities  contidne4ln  ^. 
pMiMM^ropoUs  of  ttnit  oo^nMvy. 

^  wo  c^vWDtionidly«doj^  the  more  ptevalent  opihioo,  and 
tndb  the  jiatiikbaek  to  OalifNmiadr  the  strait,  vd  have aAtfc 
alt  \mm  ngoe  tmditiott  of  a  haodfhl  of  personib  wbo^  for  # 
we  liiNMr  tft  the  contrary,  mf  liave  been  aa!iitmgeB0iii  to 
AiJ|#Ba  m%taf  peoplellii<.  t*he  aboriglBel^ of  tUft oontiw 
nMkm  i4#>fi  bo«»  of  itowi&c  and  ^titmuif  hibj^i 
it  amply  ilftiistiM#  in  the  lUftitioiial  f  ^^ 
^    fttal#llthtlilbM0M|iiillMiib«ti  ' 

were  intriKliiit  natimia,  i#A>»  iifNll^  "^^  ot 

by  to  ii»9»t«jiA  wiaesm^gr*  .iii'i^^^jy 


U."  M 


^ 


lat  atut  Mongols 
mere  iecident ; 
been  too  nwU, 
quefltinaMitti* 
tm  immemorial 

h  lemaint  to  li^ 
nd  the  oofffiilli 
Amerieanraee; 
tral  «Aiia  could 
a  direct  voyage 
poeed  by  many 
laolied  America 
nttry:  and  that 
the  inoidentiof 
ice  in  regard  to 
a  very  general 
Bt.  Gabrera,ca 
tided  byopnamt ; 
nat^theeirit* 
irhekethemil^ 
an  epoch  mHli^i 
contidnadin^^ 

eni  <qpliiioD,  and 

NUk  trtio»  for  # 
•liitiBgeiMlit  m 
Bi.of  tUtooo^ 

itioiMdl 

latar-^My^nnd     '^i 
it  Hjanrtidlmir    -* 


MtrigimU  Raet  t^  Anuriea. 


31 


poperty, 


lid  hunting  ezouniona  py  hierralyphic    ■ymbols, 
ieording  to  oircumatancee,  on  irf^,  skins  or  rocks  •• 
aifi  but  flfinesMve  language  pf  rigns,  has  been  just* 
I  the  origin  of  the  picture-writing  of  the  Mexic 
brenca  between  them,"  obsenres  Dr.  Coates,  < 
greater  than  must  necessarily  exist  betwee 
and  hunters  in  a  sim^de  form  of  soc' 
members  df  a  comjdicated  state,  po 
.  even,  aa  described  by  Clavigero,  of 
science  andlitemture." 

This  graduion  of  the  ruder  into  thr 
hieroglyphieWritiiigi^  not  only  affoi 
tot  the  unityy  ofigin  of  the  Ame 
atitutes  anoth^  proof  of  the  dist 
tbja  (Mcture-w^ng,  even  in  its 
other  than  the  most  general  r 
glyphics,  nor  indeed  has  a  rr 
tween  them.     We  may  tl 

taBRnevidenoe  <^mig 
hand,  that  they  iTid 
tationa  as  there  aiqi 
It  is  remarked  1^ 
winch  we  are  no^ 
itsvastness.    "' 
Amnican  conti 
nippoaition  of 


jbsoj^psion  of 
/  of  Isi^uage 
of  the  grf 
in^heft 


eigbtt 
iaabf. 
tfee 
8ei 


n 


DiitineUve  ChanuteriiHeg  of  tht       V 


urging  each  other  by  war  and  the  destruction  of  th  game, 
'hroughout  a  third  part  of  the  circumference  of  the  g  be. 
"The  traces  of  such  a  series  of  human  waves  wf|ld  be 
rally  looked  for  in  a  tendency  to  advance  popuUion  in 
'th,  from  which  they  emanated,  and  where 
ve  been  greatest  and  the  colonisation  of  longiitduM- 
tbing  liki*  this  is  observed ;  the  popnUtion/f  Sowtii 
id  of  Darien,  Guatimala  and  Mexico, 
^Dortion  than  that  of  any  country  i 

'»'  civilization,  too,  one  of  the  niost  impor- 
dence  in  a  fixed  spot,  are  m.  as  in  the 
tropical  climates."* 
how  it  happe.ij  thai  during  tho 
ndred  years  wfuo  tl^  discovery  of 
an  authenticated  immigration 
ting  wars  wbich  have  driven 
10  northern  parts  of  that  con- 
colony  to  the  New  World, 
rred  wittihaltioj^^^^.   .^ 
ow  p^ess  miMre  indubi- 
ns  hid  the  arts  ? 
«a  Very  few  observa- 
^vhasbeen  peojAed 
-classification,  hif 
'pelago,  and  tL« 
These  peofde, 
V,  that  neiutji^ 
f  thelMihq^ 
not  unft»> 
th(B  ftedb- 
een  tii# 
>thi§iD 
with  . 
bjeo- 
3,  is 


'««. 


err 


«m 


Aboriginal  Kom  of  AwUrieo. 


38 


'valid  in  retpeet  to  th«  whole  Malay  laeo.  For  inda- 
itly  of  differancM  of  organiiation,  how  giaat  is  the 
ity  in  their  arta  and  social  inatitutiona !  So  gieat, 
1,  that  to  account  for  it,  Dr.  Lang,  one  of  the  moat  inge- 
aupporton  of  the  theory,  insiata  on  an  intellectual 
leraoy,  consequent  to  change  of  climate  and  ciroamstanp 
*<  It  ia  an  easy  and  natural  procesa,"  sa3ra  he,  "  ht  man 
rdegenerate  in  the  scale  of  ciTiliiation,  aa  the  A^atksa  have 
itly  done  in  travelling  to  the  northward  and  eaatward. 
haa  only  to  move  fwward  a  fisw  hundred  milea  into  the 
'wildemeaa,  and  settle  lumself  at  a  distance  firom  all  civiliaad 
men,  and  the  pcocess  will  advance  with  almoat  incredible 
celerity.  For,  whether  he  cornea  in  contact  with  aavagea 
or  not,  in  the  dark  recesses  of  the  forest,  his  oflliKiaf  will 
speedily  arrive  at  a  state  of  complete  barbar»m." 

We  confess  our  difficulty  in  imagining  how  the  Polyneaiana,  ^ 
themaelves  a  barbarous  pec^e,  though  possessing  some  of  the 
;  i9jttributes  of  civiliied  life,  should  become  savages  in  the  tro- 
pical regions  of  America,  wherein  the  cUnwIe  mnai  Imp  at 
congenial  to  their  constitutions  aa  their  own^  «id  ^  initum 
other  external  circumstances  are  catotdated  to  ibcter  laihar 
than*  to  depnas  the  energies  of  a  naturally  aell(M  aad  intelli- 
gent peaide.  But  the  gMiecal  pvevalenoe  of  eiileriy  winda  is 
advene  to  the  eolonisalioii  of  America  ftom  theJliiuii|lfl|llie 
JBmiiic ;  for  the  nearest  ef  theae  islanda  ia  one 
httOdred  milet  fiom  the  Ameriowi  ooiMi  and  wl 
<M  the  many  difienltiee  whioh  the  more  diifi|M)e  oppeaei  to 
mmgatioa  in  small  vessels,  aadtha  absolnl«4i|Niity  far  food 
ftA  irater  for  a  long  period  of  tiM«»  ^  ftel^MUpa^to  be- 
that  Ameifpa  has  received  very  ftebkif  liny  IfeMMi 
NippidatioaJgpm  the  Bplyoesiaa  jilamli  Boeb  ^ 
feiilted^  eo^only  bSfi  be«i|aeeli|la^/ 
i«'#a|ilied  ^t  tliaiMiiiiiandaft  w#tld  havei 
I  Oft  the  'Ml  iiittc  oeeeir  ift  tfap 
I ;  «ad^leeessfol  issitt  i>linon«  thb 


Ki 


«vitaji;' 


lidw>  doM  it  happen  ifajriTon  iatii||« 


.4^ 


£**:- 


84 


Di$HneHv9  Characitri»tk$  of  the 


ing  the  continent  of  America,  they  ihould  all  at  onceuvo 
relinquished  their  intuitive  fondneis  for  the  water,  forguoa 
the  construction  of  their  boats,  and  become  the  most  t)| 
and  helpless  navigators  in  the  world  ? 

A  comparison  of  languages,  moreover,  gives  no  supprntV 
the  Polynesian  hypothesis;  for  all  the  zeal  and  ingenui\ 
which  have  been  devoted  to  this  inquiry,  have  tended  oul^ 
to  disclose  a  complete  philological  disparity. 

The  theories  to  which  we  have  thus  briefly  adverted,  would  | 
each  derive  the  whole  American  population  from  a  single ' 
source ;  but  various  others  have  been  hazarded  of  a  much 
more  complex  nature,  by  which  the  Indian  nations  are  referred 
to  a  iduraiity  of  vaces,  not  even  excepting  the  Caucasian.  For 
examido,  the  Peruvians,  Muyscas  and  Mexicans,  are  by  some 
advocates  of  this  system,  supposed  to  be  Malays  or  Polynesians, 
and  all  the  savage  tribes  Mongolians ;  whence  the  civilization 
of  the  one  and  the  barbarism  of  the  other.  But  we  insist 
that  the  origin  of  these  two  ^reat  divisions  must  have  beea 
the  same,  because  all  their  ethnographic  characters,  not  ex- 
cepting the  construction  of  their  numberless  languages,  go  to 
•lUforce  an  identity  of  race. 

Another  doctrine  which  hashed  many  disciples,  (amon^ 
whom  was  tlie  late  Lord  Kingsborough,  author  of  IfftvioaM 
AniiquUitB)  teaches  that  the  whole  American  population  Jt 
descended  firora  the  Jews,  through  the  ten  lost  tribes  whiistl,^. 
were  carried  away  by  Salmanazar,  King  of  Assyria.  Hafi 
again  the  differences  of  i^ysical  organisation  diould  set  this 
question  at  rest  forever;  but  independently  ofjfhese,  can  we 
suppose  that  people  so  tenacious  as  the  Jews,  of  their  liter** 
ture,  language,  andrdigion,  should  not  have  preserved  a  soli- 
tary unequivocal  memmidi  of  either  among  the  multituxMiKMia  ' 
tribes  of  this  continent,  If  any  diredt  affiliation  had  ever  ex- 
isted between  them  ?  In  short,  we  ooincide  in  opinraii  with 
a  iboetious  author  who  sums  up  all  the  evidence  of  the  case 
with  the  conclusion,  that  "  the  Jewish  theory  cannot  be  tnw 
for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  impossible." 

We  lisel  assured  that  the  same  objection  bears  not  lesa 
sUxmgly  on  every  other  hypothesis  which  deduces  any  portion 


'iP 


4' 


Aboriginal  Race  of  Ammca. 


86 


•t  oucAavo 

iroter,  forgWoii 

[he  most  tLd 

[a  no  lupportl 
and  ingenuik 
|ive  tended  oul) 

verted,  would  I 

from  a  single  ^ 

lied  of  a  much 

ione  are  referred 

Caucasian.  For 

ns,  are  by  some 

I  or  Polynesians, 

I  the  civilization 

But  we  insist 

must  have  beea 

racters,  not  ex- 

mguagei,  go  to 

•oiples,  (amon; 
Jior  of  Mvcioan 
n  populatioftja 
Jst  tribes  whiblt.^ 
Assyria.    Haul 
should  set  this 
rjfhese,  oanwe 
I  of  their  literal 
nssrved  a  sdi- 
I  multitudittDaa 
m  had  ever  ez> 
in  opinio^  with 
ice  of  theoasi    } 
cannot  be  tnw 

bears  noi  lest 
ies  any  portkMi 


,1. 


dhe  American  nations  from  a  Caucasian  source.  In  order 
|f  solve  the  problem  of  the  origin  of  the  monnmonts  of 
inerioa,  independently  of  any  agency  of  the  aboriginal  race, 
p  opinion  has  been  advanced  that  they  are  the  work  of  a 
^ranch  of  the  great  Cyclopean  family  of  the  old  world,  known 
y  the  various  designations  of  the  Shepherd  Kings  of  Egypt, 
the  Anakim  of  Syria,  the  Oscans  of  Etruriaand  the  Pelasgians 
of  Greece.  These  wandering  n%a$0H$,  as  they  are  also  called, 
are  supposed  to  have  passed  from  Asia  into  America  at  a  very 
early  epoch  of  history,  and  to  have  built  those  more  ancient 
monuments  which  ore  attributed  to  the  Toltecan  nation. 
This  view,  supported  as  it  is.  by  some  striking  resemblances, 
and  especially  in  architectural  decoration,  leaves  varioun  im- 
portant difficulties  entirely  unexplained :  it  necessarily  pre- 
supposes a  great  influx  of  foreigners  to  account  for  such  nu- 
merous and  gigantic  remains  of  human  ingenuity  and  effort, 
at  the  same  time  that  no  trace  -  of  this  exotic  family  con 
be  detected  in  the  existing  Indian  population.  They  and 
their  arts  are  equally  eradicated ;  and  we  can  only  conceive 
of  the  presence  of  these  migratory  strangers  in  small  and 
isolated  groups,  wliich  might  have  modified  the  arts  of  an 
antecedent  civilization,  while  they  themselves  were  too  few 
in  number  to  transmit  their  lineaments  to  any  aboriginal  com- 
munity. 

Closely  allied  to  this  theory,  is  that  of  our  ingenious  coun- 
tryman, Mr.  Delafield,  who  derives  the  demi-civilized  nations 
of  America  from  **  the  Cuthites  who  built  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  and  Indostan."  He  supposes  them  to  have  traversed  all 
Asia  to  reach  Behring's  strait,  and  thus  to  have  entered  Amer- 
ica at  its  northwest  angle,  whence  they^made  their  way  by 
slow  journeys  to  the  central  regions  of  the  continent.  Our 
objections  to  this  theory  will  be  found  in  what  has  been 
idnady  stated ;  and  we  may  merely  add,  that  the  route  by 
which  the  author  conducts  his  pilgrim  adventurers,  appears  to 
constitute  the  least  plausible  portion  of  his  theory.  Mr.  Dela- 
field supposes  the  barbarous  tribes  to  be  of  a  different  stock, 
and  refegi  them  to  the  Mongolians  of  Asia;  thus  adopt^g  the 
idea  of  a  plurality  of  races. 


1%^ 


.-H 


..PR-; 


w^ 


36 


Distinctive  CMracteristka  9f  the 


*-j 


We  shall  lastly  notice  an  imaginative  classification  whi« 
separates  the  aborigines  of  America  into  fonr  species  of  met 
exclusive  of  the  Eskimaux.  This  curious  but  unphilosoj^i) 
cal  hypothesis  has  been  advanced  by  Bory  de  St.  Vincent, 
French  naturalist  of  distinction,  who  considers  the  civilized] 
nations  to  be  cognate  with  the  Malays,  and  designates  them 
by  the  collective  name  of  the  Neptunian  species  ;  while  to 
his  three  remaining  species,  —  the  Columbian,  the  American 
and  the  F&tagonian,  he  assigns  certain  vague  ge<^raphical 
limits,  without  establishing  any  distincti/e  characteristics  of 
the  people  themselves.  The  system  is  so  devoid  of  founda> 
tion  in  nature,  so  fanciful  in  all  its  details,  as  hardly  to  merit 
a  serious  analysis ;  and  we  have  introduced  it  on  the  present 
occasion  to  illustrate  the  extravagance  and  the  poverty  of 
some  of  the  hypotheses  which  have  been  resorted  to  in  exida- 
nation  of  the  problem  before  us. 

Once  for  all  I  repeat  my  conviction,  that  the  study  of 
physical  conformation  alone,  excludes  every  branch  of  th« 
Caucasian  race  from  any  obvious  participation  in  the  peopliog 
of  this  continent.  If  the  Egyptians,*  Hindoos,  Phennsiiuis  or 
Qauls  have  ever,  by  accident  or  design,  planted  coloniiM  iu 
Ameiica,  these  must  have  been,  sooner  or  later,  dispersed  and 
lost  in  the  waves  of  a  vast  indigenous  population.  Sueb  yr» 
know  to  have  been  the  fact  with  the  Northinen,  whose  repeat^  ■ 
ed,  though  very  partial  settlements  in  the  present  New  Eng4 


^  vWiib  iMipMt  to  tlie  Egyptians  and  Hindoot  u  iDToived  in  Uiii  qoMtioff,  I 
eanq^c^  withwt  roMnration.  Throogh  the  fcindinM  oFan  i«eom|ilialM 
gtnt^Bm  and  aoliolar,  GMrga  R.  OUd<ioiH  Eaq.,  lata  United  States  CiwbuI  at 
Piiro,  i  have  received  i^netf  beads  of  Egyptian  mnmmies  <h>m  the  tomb*  of 
AbydttS,  Thebes  and  Memphis;  and  I  unbasiutingly  declare,  that,  irith  » 
very  few  exceptions,  which  have  a  mixed  character,  and  resemble  the  Gqitie 
fbrm,  the  confoimation  throughont  is  that  of  the  Caucasian  race.  In  every 
instance  in  which  thi.  hair  lifts  been  preserved,  it  is  long,  soft  %i  eurlin^and 
indeed  as  sill[y  as  tbet  of  the  most  polished  Euroipeans  of  the  present  time.  I 
am  now  preparing,  with  the  title  of  Oaais  JBgjffUme*,  a  brief  expoeition  of  the 
fiicts  coaneotad  with  these  interesting^iMks  of  antiquity. 

I  possess  also  about  thhty  erania  of  th«  Hindoow,  among  which  there  is  not 
one  that  could  be  mistaken  for  an  Indian  skull.  In  fact  there  is  an  obviou* 
contrail^tween  them  in  ail  respecl|  excepting  the  intenfU  capacity,  whfeh  is 
nearly  the  saiAe  in  the  Hindoo  and  Peravian. 


%f 


y 


tH 


'sC 


■^ 


'•%,  - 


^ 


f-*"  *!£#**'*• . 


s      *^' 


Aboriginal  Race  of  Amerira. 


37 


h 


t 


Id  States,  from  the  tenth  to  the  thirteenth  centuries,  are  now  . 
Mter  of  history ;  yet,  in  the  country  itself,  they  hav«  not 
/ft  a  single  indisputable  trace  of  their  sojourn. 
In  fine,  our  own  conclusion,  long  ago  deduced  from  a 
ttient  einunination  of  the  facts  thus  briefly  and  inadequately 
Bited,  is,  that  the  American  race  is  essentially  separate  and 
(peculiar,  whether  we  regard  it  in  its  physical,  its  moral,  or  its 
intellectual  relations.  To  us  there  are  no  direct  or  obvious 
links  between  the  people  of  the  old  world  and  the  new ;  for 
evem  admitting  the  seeming  analogies  to  which  we  have 
alluded,  these  are  so  few  in  number  and  evidently  so  casual 
as  not  to  invalidate  the  main  position :  and  even  should  it 
be  hereafter  shown,  that  the  arts,  sciences  and  religion  of 
America,  can  be  traced  to  an  exotic  source,  I  maintain  that 
the  organic  characters  of  the  people  themselves,  through  all 
their  endless  ramifications  of  tribes  and  nations,  prove  them  to 
belong  to  one  and  the  same  race,  and  that  this  race  is  distinct 
from  all  others. 

This  idea  may  at  first  view  seem  incompatible  with  the 
history  of  man,  as  recorded  in  the  Sacred  Writings.  *  Such, 
howev^,  is  not  the  fact.  Where  others  can  see  nothing  but 
clwee,  we  can  perceive  a  wise  and  obvious  design,  displayed 
in  the  original  adaptation  of  the  several  races  of  men  to  those 
varied  citeumstances  of  climate  and  locality,  which,  while 
tilMigonial  to  the  one,  are  destructive  to  the  other.  The  evi- 
danoes  of  history  and  the  ilgyptian  monuments  go  to  prove 
tiiat  these  races  were  as  distinctly  stamped  three  thouai|nd 
five  hundred  years  ago  as  they  are  now ;  and,  in  fact,  that 
they  are  coeval  with  the  primitive  dispersion  of  cur  species. 


**  .:' 


ii)» 


<|lf 


.'^ 


h        JT 


*r 


:m 


^n 


